Who Am I
by Koyasha
Summary: A new mutant moves in with the X-Men but harbors a secret (set in X-Men t.v. show)


A teenager walked briskly down the halls attempting to get to her gym class as quickly as possible without having to run and probably get a detention. Her name was Claudia Selenity. She was a slim, fourteen-year-old with black hair, dark brown eyes and light brown skin.

Claudia looked around her and saw the other students, some younger, some older, trying to get to their fourth period class quickly as well. She rounded the corner, ran down the stairs and entered the gym locker room. Most of the other girls in the room were dressed in their gym uniforms and getting ready to leave to go into the gymnasium.

Claudia took off her school uniform and put on her gym uniform, sneakers and quickly ran to the gym. She sat down next to her best friend, Dana.

"A few more seconds and you would've gotten a detention for being late." remarked the fourteen year old teenager, Dana.

"Well, _excuse_ me princess!" retorted Claudia quoting a famous line from a long forgotten cartoon show.

"That's enough girls." ordered the gym teacher, Ms. O'Neal. The class settled down while the teacher took attendance. Once finished, she declared, "Today, we shall start a basketball tournament."

"Yes!" exclaimed Claudia quietly. She loved basketball. It was her favorite sport.

"You already know your teams. The blue team and the purple team are up first." informed Ms. O'Neal.

Claudia scurried off to her team, the purple team. She sat down next to another one of her friends, also the team captain, Jerusha. Jerusha laid down the strategy and the rest of the team went to their assigned positions. Claudia went to the middle, and prepared to jump for the obvious jump-ball since she was one of the tallest on her team (5'10" inches). She faced her opponent, Jessica, another tall girl.

Ms. O'Neal threw the ball into the air and Claudia was able to get it first and knock it back to her team. The ball was passed to Jerusha, who dribbled the ball, dodging everyone on the way. She was about to do a lay-up when a big girl got in her way and forced Jerusha to stop. Jerusha pivoted, looking for someone to pass the ball to. She saw that Claudia was open and passed the ball to her. Claudia aimed and shot the ball right into the basket, making the score 2 to 0. Dana cheered for her friend.

"Nice one, Claudia!" she yelled.

Claudia waved back at her friend.

After four minutes, the score was 10 to 8. Only a few more seconds remained until the end of the game. The purple team had just made the last basket and they were winning.

The blue team took the ball and dribbled towards the purple team's net. The ball was passed to the blue team's best player, Vera. She was dribbling the ball swiftly around the purple team's players. Claudia stood under the net, waiting to attempt to stop Vera. She knew that Vera was really good and she didn't want her to make the basket. Claudia felt that she had to do almost anything to stop Vera. The game was almost over and Claudia knew that she wasn't really any match for Vera. The only way that Claudia thought that she could stop Vera, would be by fowling her.

Vera was dribbling closer and Claudia went to intercept.

"Stop her Claudia!" cried Jerusha.

Vera was about to do a lay-up when Claudia bashed into Vera, knocking the ball out of her hand. All of a sudden, an electrical current passed through Claudia's hands and shot directly into Vera. Vera screamed and collapsed. The rest of the class gasped in horror.

"Did you see that?" said someone.

"What happened?" said another person.

"Claudia... she... I don't know." exclaimed a person.

Ms. O'Neal ran over to Vera.

"What have you done?" the gym teacher yelled at Claudia.

"I... I..." stuttered Claudia. She was crying. She knew what she had done. She had electrocuted Vera with her mutant powers. _But, I'm usually able to control my powers_, thought Claudia.

"She's a mutant!" screamed one of the girls.

"A mutant?" people said softly.

Ms. O'Neal performed CPR on Vera. Vera didn't regain consciousness though she was breathing.

"She's going to be all right." said Ms. O'Neal, relieved that Vera wasn't dead. Noticing that Vera was going to be fine and that she hadn't killed her, Claudia ran off.

The gym class was just astonished. "She's a mutant!" they kept on whispering.

Dana ran after her friend, wanting to console her. She exited the gymnasium and saw Claudia run into the locker room.

Claudia sobbed as she put her uniform back on. Dana walked in just as Claudia was preparing to leave.

"Where are you going?" Dana asked softly.

"I don't know. I'm just going." replied Claudia, between sobs.

"It's not your fault."

"What do you mean, it's not my fault!" cried Claudia. "I did it. It's my fault!" She pushed her best friend out of the way and ran out of the high school. Once she was home, Claudia flopped down on her bed and cried into her pillow for an hour until she was exhausted and fell asleep.

"Claudia?" asked a woman softly as she nudged the teenager lying on the bed.

"Hmm?" said Claudia as she woke up.

"Honey, we need to talk," said the woman. This woman was Claudia's mother, Adriana Selenity, "about what happened at school today."

"I don't want to talk about it." replied Claudia as she raised herself. Adriana noticed that her daughter looked like she had been crying for a while. She could see the dried tears.

"Well, I do." stated Adriana. "Your principal called and informed us about what happened. Tell me, how long have you known about your mutant power? And why didn't you tell us about it?"

Claudia sniffled. "I've known since I was twelve. I didn't tell you and Dad because I had heard the stories about teenagers who told their parents that they were mutants and they were thrown out of their houses. I didn't want you to hate me."

"Hate you? We would never. We love you." said Adriana. She gave her daughter a hug. "It doesn't make a difference that you're a mutant. You haven't changed. Nothing that you could do could ever make us stop loving you."

"Thanks Mom." said Claudia. "But, there's more."

"More?"

"Remember when I disappeared for a few hours and I suddenly appeared at the doorstep and not remembering anything?"

"Yes." replied Adriana. She regretfully recalled the time when her daughter was thirteen and had suddenly went missing. Those were the most terrible hours of her life. She had felt helpless to do anything.

"Well, I remember some things. Flashes really. But, I only discovered a few weeks after what had been done to me." said Claudia.

"What had been done to you?" questioned Adriana. "What do you mean?"

"I guess I better show you." said Claudia. She stood up and walked away from her mother. In her mind, she willed herself to change. All of a sudden, her nails extended and turned into claws. Her eyes changed and turned yellow, like those of a cat's. Her back arched and she looked extremely cat-like. Inside her mouth, Claudia's canine teeth elongated and became very sharp.

Adriana Selenity gasped softly as she witnessed the change in her daughter.

"I'm sorry that I didn't tell you. I didn't want to frighten you." said Claudia. "Dana kind of found out and she secretly started calling me 'Feline'."

Claudia willed herself to change back and she was back to her human state.

"It's okay Claudia." said Adriana. "Your father and I have made a decision. I think that we should go talk about it with him."

Claudia nodded. They both walked out of Claudia's room. Claudia glanced at her X-Files poster and smiled as she saw the image of Dana Scully and Fox Mulder.

They walked into the living room where Claudia's father, Michael Selenity, stood, looking out the window of their suburban bungalow. He turned around and smiled at his daughter. He walked up to her and hugged her.

"I hope that you're feeling better." said Michael.

"Yeah." replied Claudia.

"Besides her mutant power, Claudia can somehow change into some sort of cat-like creature. She believes that it has to do with her disappearance." Adriana informed her husband.

"All the more reason." said Michael.

"All the more reason to what?" asked Claudia, curious as to know what her parents were plotting.

"Do you remember the name Jubilation Lee?" asked Michael.

"Isn't she the girl that your good friends in New York, adopted?" responded Claudia.

"That's right." agreed Adriana. "Well, we confided in her foster parents about your... ability."

"You what?" bellowed Claudia, feeling a bit violated by the fact that her parents had shared this information.

"I know that you're upset, but you have to hear us out." said Adriana.

"When we told them, they informed us that their adoptive daughter also was a mutant and that she had gone to some school in Westchester to learn about her mutant powers." informed Michael.

"So what are you saying?" asked Claudia.

"Your father and I were wondering if you would like to attend this school." said Adriana. "So that incidents like what happened today, won't happen again."

"You would be able to learn about your powers, still get your education and maybe find out what happened to you and why you can change." stated Michael.

"But remember, this is entirely your decision." said Adriana. "You have to be willing to go. We're not going to force you."

There was a moment of silence while Claudia considered her options. _If I stay here, there's a good chance that I may hurt someone again_, thought Claudia. _And, it would be a good opportunity to understand my powers and be able to control them. But... I don't want to leave my friends._

"Can I have some time to think about this?" Claudia asked.

"Sure honey. Take all the time you need." comforted Adriana.

Claudia walked out of the living room and went into her room. She lay on her bed, trying to decide what to do. She looked at her X-Files poster and wondered what Dana Scully would do in her situation.

Claudia reached for her phone and dialed the number of her best friend, Dana.

"Hello?" answered someone on the other line.

"Hi Dana. It's me." replied Claudia.

"Oh, hi Jerusha!" exclaimed Dana.

"Jerusha? What are you talking about? It's me, Claudia." said Claudia, annoyed by the fact that her friend was playing stupid games.

"It's just Jerusha." Dana cried out to her parents. "I'll take it in my room."

Claudia could hear as she was put on hold. A few seconds past and Claudia could hear the phone being picked up.

"Hello?" said Dana.

"What was that all about?" questioned Claudia.

"Sorry." replied Dana. "I don't know what has gotten into my parents! I told them about what happened at school today and they freaked! They were going on about how mutants are ruining the world and that they should be gotten rid of. I was pretending that you were Jerusha because my parents told me not to associate with you because you're a mutant. Can you believe it?"

Claudia was speechless.

"I don't know what to do. I never thought that my parents could be such bigots!" Dana exclaimed.

"Maybe their right." stated Claudia.

"What!?!"

"Maybe it would be better that you weren't friends with me anymore. I wouldn't want to hurt you or anyone else."

"Now hold on here a minute, girlfriend." said Dana. "We have been best friends since kindergarten and there's no way that we are gonna stop being friends just because you are a mutant! What difference does it make, anyway?"

"It doesn't make a difference for me, but a lot of other people wish that all mutants were dead. You've heard the stories about those people that go around attacking mutant centers and stuff like that."

"In the States! Not here in Canada! Nothing like that ever happens here in Montreal. As the French say, 'C'est la vie'!"

"Yeah... I guess you're right." agreed Claudia. "Look, I have a situation."

"Do tell."

"See, my parents know about this school in New York where I could go and learn about my mutant powers... and my 'transformation'."

"You told them about your transformation? You sure that was wise Feline?" asked Dana.

"I couldn't hide it from them forever. You know what could've happened if I ever got very upset."

Dana knew what could've happened. She remembered all too well what had happened when she and Claudia had gotten in a bad fight and Claudia had changed, not purposely, and nearly hurt Dana. That is when Dana found out that Claudia had the ability to change into a cat-like being. This incident had happened a few months ago.

"So, do you think that I should go to this school?" Claudia asked her friend.

"I think that you should do what you think is right." responded Dana.

Claudia took a minute to think about it and decided.

"I'm going to go!" she exclaimed.

"I knew that you would make the right decision!" said Dana. "But remember, you must write to me every day and tell me what happens."

"Promise!"

"Uh oh, my parents are coming. Write to me as soon as you get there, Feline." Dana hung up after those last words.

Claudia exited her room and entered the kitchen where her parents sat, drinking some tea. When Claudia walked into the room, her parents looked at her.

"I've made a decision." stated Claudia.

"And?" said Adriana.

"I've decided that I would like to attend this school."

Her parents merely nodded.

Michael Selenity got up from the chair he was sitting on and kissed his daughter.

"We're proud of you." he declared.

"Yeah, I know." Claudia joked.

"You better start packing." said Adriana with a grin.

"Yes, _Mother_." Claudia walked to her room and took out her suitcase.

She stuck her clothes in her suitcase; mostly T-shirts and jean shorts. A few long jeans, some sweatshirts and so forth. Most of her clothes were black. She loved the shade. In a duffel bag, she put her CDs, tapes and stereo. As well as her books, novels, magazines, comics and pencil case.

She finally fell asleep around midnight.

When Claudia woke up the next morning, she quickly jumped out of bed and took a shower. After she spent a quarter of an hour cleaning, she dried herself off and put on black socks, a black T-shirt, and blue jeans.

She ran downstairs, into the kitchen and grabbed the box of Rice Krispies. After breakfast, Claudia sat down with her parents and they discussed how Claudia was going to leave for New York tomorrow, Sunday morning, and that some people would be at the airport to meet her and they would take her to the school.

After the discussion, Claudia went off to her piano lessons. As usual, she did quite well and her piano teacher was quite impressed with her performance. She regretfully informed her teacher that she would be going to a "boarding" school for a few months. He wished her well and she left. She had the entire afternoon left to do what she wanted.

Claudia decided that she wanted to go to the mall and pick up the new Fugees CD. She took the bus to the Mall and walked into the music store. She picked up the CD, paid for it and was about to leave the store, when she saw three of her friends.

"Hello Daryl, Edsel, Phil! How's it going?" she greeted the trio.

"Hi Claudia!" responded Daryl.

Edsel and Phil said nothing.

"What's wrong with you two?" Claudia asked Edsel and Phil. "A bit anti-social aren't we?"

"Come on, let's get out of here." Phil said to Edsel and Daryl.

"Yeah, we don't want to be seen with her kind." remarked Edsel.

"My kind?" Claudia asked, not comprehending.

"Mutants." stated Edsel.

"No offense," said Daryl. She looked almost sad, "but, we can't be seen with you... um... Bye."

The three walked off, leaving Claudia thoughts in turmoil. She was so upset that she changed again. Her nails elongated and her eyes changed. She arched her back and softly purred.

A woman walked past her and looked at her. A scream escaped her lips as she fell into unconsciousness. Her scream attracted attention and numerous people gasped as they looked at Claudia. Claudia could hear someone say, "She's a mutant!" In her mind, Claudia laughed at the fact that the person was right but for the wrong reasons.

The crowd was closing in on her and she knew that she had to get out. She sprinted out of the mall at an incredulous speed, into the rain, and headed towards her house. She ended up in the backyard, soaked to the bone. Once there, she willed herself to change, but for some reason she couldn't.

Not knowing quite what to do, Claudia entered her house and sat down on the couch in her living room and started to cry.

Her father came home a few minutes later. As soon as he saw his daughter he rushed towards her, but when she looked up, he saw her eyes and then noticed her claws, he stopped.

"Claudia?"

"Daddy? Daddy! Please, help me!" pleaded Claudia. Even though her eyes were different, he could see the pain in them. He sat down next to his daughter, careful to avoid her claws, and gave her a concerned look.

"What happened?"

"Daddy, it was awful! My friends told me that they didn't want to be seen with me 'cause I'm a mutant." informed Claudia.

"Shh." comforted Michael Selenity. He inched slowly towards her, not wanting to be cut by her razor sharp claws. He carefully gave her a hug and kissed her wet forehead. Claudia relaxed. She changed back to her normal state. She sobbed into her father's shoulder. He held her until she pulled away.

"Thank you Daddy." said Claudia. "I think that I'm going to go lie down for a while."

"All right, you do that honey."

Claudia changed out of her wet clothes and put on dry ones. She plopped down on her bed. She was happy that she had already packed. She didn't feel that she had the strength to do it now. Once again, she fell asleep.

Claudia was so exhausted, mentally, that she slept through the entire evening and night. She woke up at 5 o'clock am. Again, she jumped into the shower and then put on a pair of black jean shorts, black socks, and another black T-shirt that had the X-Files emblem.

She picked up her suitcase, duffel bag and knapsack which had some of her tapes, walkman, magazines and books. Also, she had some junk food, in her knapsack in case the airline food was outrageously terrible.

Her flight was for 8:00 am. She brought her bags downstairs and saw her mother and father in the kitchen, drinking coffee.

"All set to go?" asked Adriana.

"I'm more ready than I will ever be." declared Claudia.

"Well, we better get going, if you want to make that flight." stated Michael.

Mr. Selenity loaded Claudia's bags into the minivan. Claudia sat in the back, while her parents sat in front as they headed to Dorval Airport. Once there, Michael parked the vehicle and they headed into the airport. Claudia checked her bags and picked up the latest issues of MAD Magazine and Cracked Magazine. Then it came time to say her farewells to her parents.

"We'll think about you all the time." said Adriana. "Don't forget to write."

"How could I forget?" She hugged her mother tightly and kissed her again and again.

Claudia turned towards her father and said, "I'm going to miss you a lot Daddy."

"As will I."

"Don't you think that that sounded a bit poetic?" Claudia chuckled. She gave her father a hug and kissed him.

"I'll miss you both." said Claudia. She hugged her parents both at the same time.

"Now don't get into to too much trouble." warned her father.

"Be good." cautioned her mother.

"Of course I will." responded Claudia, sarcastically. She gave her parents one last look as she walked off.

When she was on the plane, Claudia started wondering what this school was going to be like. _I hope that there will be somebody that I can talk to_, she thought. _I hope that the people there aren't snobs. Well, at least Jubilation Lee is going to be there, not that I know her that well. I just know about her. Ah well, I'll see what happens._

The flight wasn't long and pretty soon, Claudia was in New York at Logan International Airport. She disembarked from the plane and retrieved her luggage. Claudia sat down near the exit to the airport and wondered how the people who were coming for her, were going to recognize her. Her parents didn't mention anything about giving a photo of her to anyone. _Maybe Jubilation will be here_, hoped Claudia_. Now what does she look like again?_ Claudia tried to picture Jubilation but had difficulty trying to remember what she looked like from the picture that her parents had. All Claudia could remember was that Jubilation Lee was a Chinese girl.

_Well, she's about my age_, thought Claudia. Claudia looked around for an adolescent Chinese girl. She didn't see one. _Now what am I going to do?_

Suddenly, a woman walked over to her and said, "Hello Claudia!" She was a beautiful woman with fiery red hair and she wore a normal T-shirt and jeans. She looked like she was in her early thirties or late twenties.

"Umm... hi!" said Claudia, confused on how this person knew her name. "May I inquire as to how you know my name?"

"Whoa! What's with the language? You sound like one of those old books I'm forced to read." Claudia heard this voice from behind the woman and realized it to be Jubilation Lee's voice.

"Jubilation Lee I presume." said Claudia as she stood up and extended her hand to the Chinese teenager. She was wearing a yellow coat, blue shorts and a pink T-shirt.

"What's with the formalities?" asked Jubilation Lee. She took Claudia's hand anyway and shook it firmly. "And please call me Jubilee. Everyone else does."

"All right, Jubilee." said Claudia.

"This is Jean Grey." said Jubilee, introducing the woman with the red hair.

"Pleased to meet you." said Claudia as she shook hands with the woman. "But, I was wondering how you knew who I was?"

"Duh!" exclaimed Jubilee. "She's a telepath! She can read your mind!"

"Oh." was all that Claudia could say. The thought of someone being able to sense her thoughts was disturbing to her. She just wished that no one could sense or hear what she was thinking.

"How did you..." started Jean. She looked astonished.

"How did I what?" asked Claudia, confused.

"Oh, nothing." Jean recovered. "We better get going."

"Whoa, was that weird, or what?" said Jubilee as the two teenagers followed Jean to the car that was parked outside. A man with sunglasses was sitting in the driver's seat. He was wearing jeans and a green shirt.

"Hello." Claudia greeted the strange man as she and Jubilee entered into the back seats of the vehicle.

"Good day." replied the man. He appeared to be about the same age as Jean Grey.

"This is Scott Summers." informed Jubilee.

"I am pleased to make your acquaintance."

"Sheesh," whispered Jubilee. "Talk about polite."

Claudia was being so polite because she wanted to make a good first impression. _No sense in starting on the wrong foot_, she thought.

"Likewise." said Scott Summers, referring to Claudia's greeting.

"Those are nice sunglasses." said Claudia, trying to make conversation.

Jubilee chuckled. Jean just smiled.

"Did I say something funny?" asked Claudia.

"Nah." replied Scott. "Don't mind them."

"Let's just say, his shades are 'custom' made." said Jubilee as she snickered.

"Uh-huh." said Claudia, wondering what the inside joke was about.

As they were en route to the school, Jubilee was telling Claudia about how she was going to meet someone named Professor Xavier. He was the head of the school.

Claudia didn't notice as they drove onto the grounds. She looked up and expected to see a normal high school, but instead, there was a mansion. She blinked twice, making sure that what she was seeing was for real.

"Is that the school?" Claudia asked Jubilee.

"Yeah." answered Jubilee.

"Amazing!" said Claudia with excitement.

Claudia exited the car and picked up her bags. She walked up the couple of steps and entered the mansion.

"Whoa!" she exclaimed. "Now this is my kind of school!"

"Jubilee, please show our guest to her room." ordered Scott.

"We shall tell the Professor that you have arrived." said Jean.

"Not like he doesn't already know." Jubilee muttered to herself.

Jean and Scott walked off arm in arm. _Hmm, wonder what their relationship is?_, thought Claudia.

"This way." directed Jubilee. They walked up two flights of stairs and Jubilee motioned to a door on the right. She opened the door to find a comfortable bedroom, with a bathroom to the left.

"This is your room." stated Jubilee.

"Really?" said Claudia, marveled by the wonderful room.

"I better get going." said Jubilee. "The Professor is going to come by and see you. But, you've got a few minutes to unpack and get a little settled in. When you're done, I'll be back to give you the grand tour!"

"Thank you."

"See ya then." Jubilee exited the room leaving Claudia.

Claudia immediately set her suitcase and duffel bag on the bed. She walked towards the window and looked out to see a court and a pool.

"I think that I'm going to like it here." she said out loud.

"I certainly hope so." said a voice. Claudia whirled around to see a man in a floating chair.

"I... uh..." she stammered.

"Let me introduce myself, I am Professor Charles Xavier." said the man.

"Pleased to meet you." said Claudia and she shook hands with the Professor. Claudia somehow knew that even though this man was confined to a wheelchair, he was, without a doubt, very powerful.

"Your parents requested that you attend this school so that you may be able to learn about and control your mutant powers." said the Professor. "I understand that there was an incident concerning your abilities."

Claudia thought back to that gym class. A dark shadow passed over her face. She didn't say anything.

"At this school, you shall be trained about your powers in simulations." informed the Professor. "As well, you shall attend normal school classes with Jubilee."

Claudia merely nodded.

"Will there be any other students?" she asked.

"There are other students," commenced Professor Xavier, "but they shall not be attending your educational classes."

Claudia wondered why the other students weren't in any of her classes. _Why are Jubilee and I so special?_, thought Claudia.

"The other students do not need to take the courses that you and Jubilee do." said Professor Xavier.

"How... how did you know what I was thinking?" asked Claudia. Before the Professor could answer, Claudia commented, "Let me guess, you're a telepath as well?"

"Yes, child." answered the Professor. "I shall send Jubilee to give you the tour of the mansion. And feel free to use any of the facilities at your disposal. Tomorrow, we shall being your training. Good day Miss Selenity."

The Professor's chair floated out of the room. Two seconds after his departure, Jubilee showed up.

"So, let's blow this joint!" said Jubilee.

The two walked out of Claudia's room and down the hall. Down the stairs they went. Jubilee showed Claudia where the kitchen and the rec. room were. She also showed her where their classes were going to be held. Next, she showed Claudia the Danger Room.

"Two questions: what is it that you do in the 'Danger Room' and do I want to know?" asked Claudia.

Jubilee laughed. "The Danger Room is where we have the training exercises." she replied.

"Do you have the exercises with the other students?" asked Claudia.

"Yeah." responded Jubilee.

"One more thing, why is it that I haven't seen any other students except for you?" questioned Claudia.

"But you did!"

"Could you please clarify?"

"Scott and Jean. They're students here."

"Aren't they a little old for school?" asked Claudia.

"This is no ordinary school." responded Jubilee.

"I'm beginning to see that." said Claudia. Changing the subject, she said, "I'm quite famished. The Airlines definitely do not have great food. Is there anything to eat?"

"Not much." replied Jubilee. "No junk."

"Well, I suppose that we could have some of the food that I brought."

"You've got a supply?!" Jubilee asked, eagerly.

"Come on. I'll show you."

They both walked back to Claudia's room and shut the door. Claudia produced from her knapsack some Skittles and soda. Claudia had always had a sweet tooth.

"Now this is food!" exclaimed Jubilee.

Claudia withdrew her stereo and plugged it in. Searching through her many CDs, she selected one that she thought might be suitable for her new acquaintance.

"Would you like to listen to my new Fugees CD?" asked Claudia.

"Sure!" exclaimed Jubilee.

"Could you request a certain track?"

"Why don't you pick your fav?" responded Jubilee, who was barely inaudible because of the amount of Skittles in her mouth.

Claudia blushed from her embarrassment. "I actually haven't listened to the CD yet."

Jubilee gave her a confused look.

"I'm really not into this sort of music." said Claudia honestly. "My best friend Dana said that this CD was very good, and I trust her judgment. So, I decided to purchase it."

"Oh, okay. Well, let me think..." pondered the Jubilee, "I'm trying to remember this song that I really like... Now what is it called again... Oh! I remember. It's called Ready Or Not."

Claudia studied her CD and found the suggested song. She stuck her CD inside the player and programmed it for the correct track.

Claudia sat down upon her new bed, next to Jubilee who was singing to the song. She was just about to comment upon Jubilee's singing when a sharp knock was heard at the door.

Claudia lowered the volume of her stereo and opened the door to see a rather short man. That is, shorter than her.

"You must be the new kid." said the man. "Jubilee there?"

Claudia didn't like the use of the word "kid", but decided to let it pass. "I'm delighted to make your acquaintance. My name is Claudia. And you are?"

"I'm the one asking you for Jubilee." replied the man rudely.

_What is his problem?_, thought Claudia.

"Right here." said Jubilee.

"Let's go." said the man to Jubilee. "The Professor wants to talk to us."

"Uh, do I come too?" asked Claudia.

"No." answered the man in a cold tone.

_What did I do?_, thought Claudia. _Still... there's something familiar about him._

Jubilee and the man were about to leave when Claudia asked, "Pardon my asking sir, but have we met before?"

"No." replied the man in that same cold tone. He walked off.

"Don't mind him." commented Jubilee. "I'll see you later." She followed the man down the hall.

Claudia was about to close the door to her room when she noticed a woman walking down the hall. She left the door open as wide as a crack and watched as the woman walked by. The woman didn't notice her. She was a beautiful black woman with white hair that gave her a mystical look.

_Don't I know her_, thought Claudia. _Why do all these people look familiar? Even those two, Jean and Scott, haven't I seen them before? And what about Professor Xavier? I'm certain that I know him! But from where?_

Claudia decided that she would ponder about these people later. She started to put her clothes away in the drawers and the closet. She put some of her books and magazines on the shelf.

"This place is beginning to feel like home already." Claudia said to herself. "Speaking of home, I should write to Mom and Dad."

She sat down at the table in her room and took out some paper and a pencil. Before she started to write, she turned on her stereo and listened to a mix of music that she had recorded from the radio. She commenced to write:

Dear Mom and Dad,

I got here safe and sound and now I'm writing, just like I said I would.

Now why didn't you tell me that school was going to be in a mansion? It's wonderful here! I feel like I'm in a hotel. I met Jubilee (Jubilation) and she's very nice. In fact, so far, she's the only friend that I've made. I met some other people and they seem very nice as well. I also met Professor Xavier, the head of this school. Very interesting man. He says that I'm going to start my training tomorrow. Can't wait! Don't worry. I haven't gotten in trouble... yet! Not that I plan to... Well, we'll see what happens.

I'm anxious to hear from you. Tell me about what's happening back home. I miss you dearly.

Love,

Claudia XOXOXOXOX

Claudia put the paper to the side and took another piece of paper. The second letter was going to be written to Dana:

Dear Dana,

This place is awesome! I've got this extremely nice room. And guess what? There's a pool! Yes, a pool! Aren't you just jealous? Anyway, there's an outstanding recreational room. There's also this place called the Danger Room. I know, the first time I heard it, I was spooked. It's where I'm going to be training.

I also met this girl, Jubilee, and she's extremely nice! She's a lot of fun. Unfortunately, she seems to be the only other teenager here, which is kind of a downer. You know what? Jubilee and I are the only ones in the classes that I'm going to be taking. Isn't that odd? I wish that you were here. You would love Jubilee. She was there at the airport with this woman named Jean Grey. She's a telepath! Isn't that amazing? She knows what people are thinking. Then, I met this guy named Scott Summers. I think that he's got something going on with Jean, but I shouldn't be so nosy.

I also met this other guy here. He was a complete and utter dipstick! He was so rude to me. I just felt like electrically charging him. Unfortunately, I didn't. I wish I had. Ah well.

Hey, I'm going to let you in on a little secret: for some reason, I feel that I know these people. When I look at them, I sense that I've seen them before. I can't shake the feeling. For example, I saw this black woman with white hair (I know, different isn't it?) walking down the hall, and I totally felt like I've met this woman before. Another example is when I was talking to the head of the school, Professor Charles Xavier, I had this feeling of recollection. I don't know, maybe it's just a phase.

Anyway, write back soon. I'm anxious to hear from you.Luv,

Feline

Claudia put the other piece of paper aside and took out two envelopes from her knapsack. She wrote the proper addresses and stuck a stamp on each of the envelopes. She was about to write the return address, when she realized, that she didn't know what the address or postal code were. _Great_, she thought. _Guess I'll just have to ask somebody._

Claudia got up from her desk and exited her room. She figured that it would be a good opportunity to sneak around the mansion as well. She walked down the hall, looking for somebody, anybody that she could talk to. It was like the entire mansion was deserted. Getting a bit desperate, Claudia decided to yell out, "Anybody home?" Her voice echoed throughout the mansion.

She walked around the mansion for a few minutes. "Where did everybody go?" she asked herself out loud.

Claudia walked downstairs to the main floor and looked around. She entered a room, which appeared to be some, sort of a library. She looked at the books and was astounded by the interesting subjects that you could read about. She saw on a desk that there was a paper that had the letter X on it. She picked up the paper and noticed that it was an actually a document. She looked through it and noticed that someone named Doctor Henry McCoy wrote it. _Now why does that name sound familiar?_

She skimmed through the paper and realized it was about mutants. She found the paper very interesting. She would've liked to talk to this Doctor McCoy. Maybe he could help her with the problem with her "transformation".

Claudia carried the paper out of the room and walked down the hall. She was still reading the paper and she didn't notice where she was going. She was walking down a flight of stairs that she hadn't noticed before. Pretty soon, she wound up in a room that had a bunch of strange gadgets.

" And what is this place?" said Claudia as she looked up from the reading material. She looked around. "Looks like some sort of infirmary. This technology is outstanding! It looks like something out of a science-fiction movie!" She examined the instruments. She was tempted to try to turn one of them on, but decided that it wouldn't be a good way to start her first day by accidentally breaking something.

She left the infirmary and walked down the hall, still reading the paper. A couple of minutes later, she thought that she could hear voices. She couldn't hear what the voices were saying. Claudia didn't want to get too close just in case that what the people were talking about wasn't meant for her ears. _How am I going to listen if I can't hear?_, thought Claudia.

She swiftly changed to her cat state and her hearing was vastly increased.

"-she is very dangerous. She feels that she can control her powers, but that is hardly the case." Claudia recognized the voice as Professor Xavier's. "I also sensed that there was something that she's hiding."

"I too sensed that." said another voice. Claudia recognized the second voice to be that of Jean Grey's.

"Is it safe to have to her around?" asked a voice. Claudia didn't recognize the voice but identified it to most probably be a woman's voice.

"She poses no real threat to anyone at the moment, Storm." replied Professor Xavier. _Storm?_, thought Claudia_. Where do I know that name?_ "But, if she feels threatened or becomes upset, she could lose what little control that she has over her powers."

"It's our job to help her." Claudia recognized that voice to be Scott's.

"Cyclops is right." agreed Professor Xavier_. Cyclops? I definitely know that name! But from where?_

"What if she loses control? Then what? Do we take her out?" _That's the voice of that rude guy!_, thought Claudia.

"Wolverine!" exclaimed a voice. _That's for sure Jubilee_, thought Claudia. _Wolverine? Cyclops? Storm? What do all those names have in common?_

Claudia hissed softly at the thought of that jerk wanting to hurt her. _I would like to see him try_, she thought.

Claudia listened and she thought that she could hear someone sniffing.

"What is it?" asked someone with a strange accent.

"I heard something." said the man who had been rude to her. Claudia could hear the sniffing noises again. "Someone's here. I don't recognize the scent. It don't smell entirely human."

"What?" said a voice that Claudia knew was Jubilee's. Claudia decided that now was a good time to make her departure. She ran swiftly back to her room without making a sound and quickly changed back to her human form.

Claudia lay down on her bed trying to make some sense out of what she had just heard. She realized that those people had been talking about her.

_And here I thought I had great control over my powers_, thought Claudia. _Shows what I know._

"Cyclops. Storm. Wolverine. Professor Charles Xavier. Doctor Henry McCoy." said Claudia. "What is so special about those names?"

She sat up on the bed, trying to figure out the problem.

"This is going to drive me crazy!" she said out loud. In frustration, she picked up the document by Dr. Henry McCoy and was about to throw it when she stopped. She looked intently at the X on the cover.

"X." she said. "X." she repeated. Then, it was like a light had been turned on in her head. She covered her mouth as she gasped. "X! The X-Men! That's who they are!"

Claudia had heard some stories about the X-Men. She didn't know too much about them, only that they were some sort of mutant team that fought for the dream of mutants and humans coexisting in peace.

_I can't believe that I am staying here with the X-Men!_

"Hmm, I wonder if Mom and Dad knew about this. Probably. But why didn't they tell me?" Claudia asked herself out loud.

"Because they were afraid that if you knew, you wouldn't want to attend the school because you might think that it would be dangerous."

Claudia whirled around for the second time today and saw Professor Charles Xavier.

"Dangerous? Why?" asked Claudia.

"The X-Men fight because we believe that mutants and humans can exist in harmony. Other mutants and humans might not agree."

"So they would try to hurt you?" asked Claudia. "The X-Men?"

"Yes."

"And when were you going to tell me all of this?"

"You were going to be informed tomorrow. Your parents felt it necessary that you settle in first before you were told." said Professor Xavier. "However, if you feel that you would not like to stay, we can inform your parents and you could go home."

"I never said that I didn't want to stay. I think that this is a great place for me to learn how to use my powers." said Claudia.

The Professor nodded. He was about to leave when he said, "I sense that there is something you want to ask me?"

Claudia shuffled her feet and played with her hands. "Well... I... uh... I was just wondering... you know... if... umm... like, if... if I could... maybe..."

"Yes?"

"Maybe... uh... perhaps... join the X-Men?" she whispered.

"Right now, you are young and inexperienced and I don't believe that you realize the responsibility that comes with being an X-Man. However, when you have learned to better control your powers, you may be able to partake in some missions. For now, we shall focus on your training." replied the Professor.

"Yes, Professor." said Claudia. She was glad that perhaps one day, she might become an X-Man.

"Tomorrow morning, we begin at 9 o'clock. Good evening Claudia." Professor Xavier left her room.

_Wow, the X-Men_, she thought.

The time was 6:30 PM and Claudia wanted to do something. She exited her room and went looking for Jubilee.

Claudia walked down the hallway, not sure where Jubilee was. She decided to ask somebody. Claudia knocked on the first door to her right. A woman with red and white hair answered the door. She was quite beautiful. Almost to the point of exotic.

"May ah help you?" asked the woman with a heavy southern accent.

"Uh... yeah. I'm Claudia and I was wondering if you might know where Jubilee is?"

"Ah believe that she's in the rec. room." replied the woman.

"Thank you very much, Miss... uh miss-"

"Rogue." the woman filled in the blank.

"Miss Rogue."

The woman chuckled. "No. It's just Rogue."

"Well, thank you very much Rogue."

"No problem sugah."

Claudia walked off and headed towards the rec. room. _Now where exactly is the rec. room again?_, Claudia asked herself.

She finally found it and she saw Jubilee, Wolverine and the black woman watching the news.

"Hello Jubilee." whispered Claudia.

"Hi Claudia." said Jubilee. "How's it going?"

"It's okay, I just talked to the Professor and he told me-"

"Do you mind? We're trying to watch the TV." said Wolverine.

Claudia glared at the man and muttered quietly something profane under her breath. Jubilee and the black woman did not hear her. No normal human could have heard her. But Wolverine is not any normal human. His hearing is extremely acute.

"What did you say?" asked Wolverine.

_How could've he heard me_, wondered Claudia. _No one could've heard that. No one with normal hearing... Darn! Mutants! I forgot their mutants! Who knows what their powers are?_

Taking the offensive, Claudia said, "I think you know what I said."

"Uh, Claudia, I don't think that you want to-" said Jubilee.

"Quiet Jubilee." Wolverine interrupted.

"Logan." cautioned the black woman.

"I can handle this, Storm." stated Wolverine. He stood up and looked at Claudia.

"Et qu'est ce que tu vas faire?" asked Claudia.

"What?" asked Wolverine.

"You don't understand?" asked Claudia, astonished. "Ah! C'est merveilleux! Alors je peux vous dire des choses et tu ne me comprenerais pas. Excellent!"

"Did she just say excellent?" asked Jubilee.

"I believe she is speaking in French." commented Storm.

"Oui Madame." responded Claudia. She looked at Wolverine and pointed a finger at him and said, "Je vais vous dires quelque chose: je crois que vous êtes un pauvre type, espèce de-"

"Madame!" exclaimed a man as he entered the rec. room. "Je suis étonné par votre cruauté."

"Merde!" exclaimed Claudia. "Je croyais que j'étais la seule personne ici qui parlais le français. Qui êtes-vous?"

"Gambit." responded the man. "Why you insult mon ami, Wolverine?"

"C'est parce qu'il etait mechant a moi. J'essayais d'être polis, mais il etait tres insolent!"

"Wolverine like dat." said Gambit.

"I don't like the fact that you're talking about me Cajun, and I don't understand." growled Wolverine.

"She t'inks you been rude to her." stated Gambit with a snicker.

"Well ain't that too bad." replied Wolverine. He just gave Claudia a look which said, "Does it look like I care?" Claudia glared at Wolverine. For a second, her eyes changed to that of a cat's and Claudia gave him an evil grin. Her elongated canine teeth were showing. She looked extremely menacing. Wolverine looked a bit taken aback. Claudia changed her eyes and teeth back. No one had noticed but Wolverine and that's what she had wanted.

"Yo! Wolverine?" said Jubilee. "Anybody home?" She waved her hand in front of Wolverine's face. He snapped out of his trance.

"Maybe he's tired." suggested Claudia, sarcastically.

"Don't bet on it." replied Wolverine.

"So, Claudia, how do you like it here so far?" Jubilee asked, wanting to relieve the tension in the room that was passing between Wolverine and Claudia.

Claudia turned away from Wolverine and responded, "I think that it is very nice down here. The weather here is better than in Quebec."

"Pretty cold up there, huh?" asked Jubilee. "Lot of snow?"

"Snow? In May? What are you talking about?" questioned Claudia. She laughed. "Oh, let me guess: you probably think that since I live in Canada, that it must be always cold. Don't you think that's a bit stereotypical?"

"Oh, sorry." apologized Jubilee.

Claudia laughed again. "No, it's okay. I'm not surprised. A lot of Americans that I have met seem to have the notion that Canada is a complete glacier. Why is that?"

"Some of them don't know any better." stated Wolverine.

"And I suppose that you would?" said Claudia.

"Yeah, I would." He walked off, with those last words.

"Could you please explain to me what I have done to induce such a negative response from that man?" Claudia asked Jubilee.

"He doesn't hate you." replied Jubilee.

"Wolverine has a way with people." said the black woman known as Storm.

"Dat's for sure." said the man who had called himself Gambit.

"You just need to get to know him." encouraged Jubilee.

"Yeah, like that's going to happen!" exclaimed Claudia. "I'm sure that he would very much enjoy 'taking me out', as he so put it."

Jubilee chuckled a bit nervously. "I'm sure he wasn't serious."

"Of course he wasn't." replied Claudia sarcastically.

"Jubilee is right." said Storm. "Wolverine can be very difficult at times."

Gambit snorted. "Dat not de half of it."

"Anyway, Jubilee, you want to do something?" asked Claudia.

"Sure. Want to take a dip in the pool?"

"All right." replied Claudia.

They walked to Jubilee's room first. Claudia noticed the posters and the way that Jubilee's room was decorated. She didn't personally like the color, pink, but Claudia liked the way the room was adorned.

"Just wait a sec." Jubilee took out her bathing suit from a drawer and entered the bathroom. She exited after a minute, wearing a yellow swimsuit, holding a pink towel and wearing yellow sandals.

"Let's jet." said Jubilee.

Next, they went to Claudia's room. Claudia removed her black swimsuit and went into the bathroom. Claudia exited the bathroom holding her clothes, wearing her bathing suit, wearing black Nike sandals and holding a black towel.

"Out of curiosity, what is with the 'black thing'?" asked Jubilee.

"What do you mean?"

"From what I've seen, all you ever where is black!"

"I don't know. I've always loved the color since my disappearance..." her voice trailed off. There was an awkward silence.

"Well, we better get going." said Claudia, breaking the silence. Jubilee led the way to the pool, wondering what Claudia had been talking about. The two teenagers walked outside and the sun shone down on their skin. Jubilee's skin glistened milky white in the sun, while Claudia's chocolate color skin absorbed the sun's rays, making her feel warm inside.

"Last one in is a rotten egg." stated Jubilee.

The adolescents ran towards the pool and both jumped in at the same time. Jubilee splashed her new friend. Claudia went under the water and pulled Jubilee down. Claudia swam up to the surface of the water and laughed. Jubilee came up a few seconds later and joined Claudia in her laughing. They splashed each other.

Jubilee waded out of the pool.

"Get a load of this." said Jubilee as she walked over to the diving board.

Jubilee jumped off the diving board with grace, did a flip and landed in the water with hardly a splash. She resurfaced. The sun was setting and Claudia could see the moon appearing. The lights above the pool turned on.

"That was great." commented Claudia.

"Thanks." said Jubilee. They both waded in the pool.

"So," commenced Claudia. "tell me about the X-Men."

"Oh, so you know." stated Jubilee.

"Of course." replied Claudia. "And I figured it out all by myself."

"Well, I don't know where to start." said Jubilee honestly.

"Tell me about your powers." responded Claudia.

"I think that it would be better if I showed you." Jubilee let off a spark of her pyrokinetics.

"That is completely amazing!" marveled Claudia.

Neither of them noticed as the blast hit one of the lampposts. Claudia heard a noise, like an electrical spark. She looked up and noticed the lamppost had been hit and some of it was going to fall into the water.

She softly cursed to herself.

Jubilee looked up and saw that electric sparks were spurting out of the lamppost and it was about to fall.

"Get out of the water!" screamed Claudia. "Now!"

Jubilee swam to the side of the pool as quickly as she could, while Claudia followed her. Jubilee tried to lift herself out of the pool but her arm slipped and she fell back in. Claudia looked back up and noticed that the post was mere seconds from falling.

Without a second thought, Claudia heaved her new friend out of the pool. The second Jubilee was out, the lamppost splashed into the water, conducting electricity through her body.

Claudia went under the water, from the shock of the electricity.

"Claudia!" yelled Jubilee as she watched her friend go under. Without thinking, Jubilee was about to put her hand into the water, to try and help her friend, when a strong hand pulled her back.

"Not a good idea, darlin'." said a voice behind her. She turned to see that Wolverine was the one holding her arm.

"Claudia! We have to help her!" Jubilee cried to Wolverine.

At that moment, Storm and Rogue flew outside, with Cyclops, Jean and Professor Xavier behind them.

"What has happened?" asked Professor Xavier.

"The new kid fell back into the water when the lamppost fell in." informed Wolverine.

"Someone help her!" cried Jubilee out to no one in particular.

"Jean." ordered the Professor.

"I'm on it Professor." With her telekinetic powers, Jean lifted Claudia's body out of the water and set it down on the ground. Jubilee ran over to her and looked down.

"She's not breathing." observed Jubilee.

Storm and Cyclops ran over and quickly did CPR.

"1, 2, 3, 4, 5." said Storm as she pushed down on Claudia's chest. Cyclops breathed into Claudia's mouth.

"1, 2, 3, 4, 5." Cyclops breathed again.

"1, 2, 3, 4, 5." Cyclops breathed into her mouth and this time, Claudia regained consciousness and spurted out the water that had been in her lungs.

Claudia felt strange.

"Wh-what's... wrong... with me?" she managed to say, between panting.

"Claudia." said Jubilee, relieved that her friend was going to be okay.

She was about to walk over to her, when Xavier hollered, "Everyone, get away from her, now!"

"Professor?" asked Storm.

"Now Storm!" screamed Jean.

Everyone but Jubilee and Claudia headed towards the mansion.

Jubilee was going to help her friend, when she heard Claudia say, "Jubilee... go! They're right..." There was an expression of fear on Claudia's face. Jubilee turned and ran. She made it to the mansion just in time that she wasn't hurt by the eruption of electrical energy that came from Claudia's body. The X-Men just watched, as the teenager let out the electrical energy, unable to help her.

The outburst lasted only for a few seconds and when it was over, Claudia collapsed into unconsciousness.

There was a deadly silence as the X-Men stood and looked upon the insensible adolescent.

Wolverine was the first to react. He rushed over to Claudia and picked her up, all 124 pounds.

"Bring her to the infirmary." ordered Professor Xavier.

Wolverine carried Claudia all the way to the infirmary while the rest of the X-Men followed close behind. As soon as they got to the infirmary, Wolverine set Claudia down gently on one of the beds.

"And who is the lovely, unconscious young lady?" asked the blue-furred doctor in the infirmary, as he looked down upon Claudia.

"The new kid." responded Wolverine.

The doctor, also known as Beast, examined the teenager.

"She is unconscious, but alive." explained Beast.

Jubilee approached Beast and asked, "Will she be all right?"

"She just needs to rest." replied the doctor. "Once she regains consciousness, I'll inform you immediately."

"Thank you Beast." said Jubilee. The X-Men filed out of the infirmary, leaving the doctor to care for the comatose patient.

Claudia awoke with a start and looked around her surroundings. Her eyes immediately focused upon the blue-furred being that was looking at her. She gasped softly.

"Am I dead?" she asked quietly.

The blue-furred being laughed. It was a gentle and friendly laugh. Claudia relaxed a little.

"I assure you my dear, you are very much alive." responded the being.

"Are you the doctor?" questioned Claudia.

"Indeed I am." he replied. "My name is-"

"Doctor Henry McCoy?"

"Why yes. However did you know?"

"Lucky guess." was the reply. Claudia took in her surroundings again. "I assume that this is the infirmary I stumbled upon before."

"This is the only infirmary, so I believe that you assume correctly." said Dr. McCoy.

"Could you tell me something?"

"Certainly my dear." responded Dr. McCoy.

"What happened?"

"As I understood it, you were knocked unconscious from the shock of the electricity when the lamppost fell into the water. I assume that you didn't die because of your mutant power. Cyclops and Storm had to perform CPR on you, so that you would regain consciousness and not drown. When you came to, Professor Xavier and Jean realized that your body had absorbed the electricity from the lamppost and that your body couldn't handle the build up. Your body expelled the energy and since it was so fatigued, you lost consciousness. Wolverine brought you-"

"Excuse me?" interrupted Claudia. "Wolverine? Did you say Wolverine?"

"That is indeed what I said." replied the doctor. He continued. "Wolverine brought you to the infirmary where you have been since. I have been waiting for you to regain consciousness for about two hours. Your body needed time to recuperate."

There was an awkward silence as Claudia took all this information in.

_Wolverine?_, thought Claudia. _He actually helped me? Is that possible? I thought he hated me. This appears to be a highly illogical way to act._

"Oh, I forgot." said Dr. McCoy. He walked towards the wall, pressed a button and spoke into the speaker. "Jubilee, she's conscious."

"I'll be right down." came the reply from the speaker.

A minute later, Jubilation Lee entered the infirmary.

"Jubilee." said Claudia, sitting up in her bed. "It's nice to see you looking so well."

"Isn't that what I'm supposed to say to you?" asked Jubilee. "So, how are you?"

"I'm okay. Doctor McCoy has been taking good care of me." replied Claudia. "How have you been? I hope that you didn't get into trouble about what happened in the pool."

"The Professor just told me that I should be more careful with my powers. Thankfully, he didn't chew me out too much."

"That's good." said Claudia. Jubilee gave Claudia a strange look. "I mean, it's good that you didn't get into too much trouble."

"Oh." said Jubilee. No words passed between them at that moment and all that could be heard was Doctor McCoy shuffling in the background.

Jubilee broke the silence. "Um, Claudia?"

"Yeah?"

"I just wanted to say thanks... for saving my life." stated Jubilee.

"That's okay. I'm sure you would've done the same for me." Claudia smiled at her friend and motioned for her to come closer. Jubilee put her face lower to Claudia's.

"Tell me, is it true that Wolverine was the one that brought me to the infirmary?" asked Claudia in a whisper.

"Yes. Why?" Jubilee whispered back.

"Just curious." responded Claudia quickly. "But why would he do that? I didn't think that he would even care if I died or not."

"Of course he would care. He's really nice. You just need to get to know him." said Jubilee.

"Maybe." considered Claudia. She sighed.

"What's wrong?" Jubilee asked, concerned.

"It's just, I didn't want to cause so much trouble on my first day here and be so disruptive."

"It's not your fault. I should've been more careful with my powers."

"If you will excuse the intrusion," intermitted Dr. McCoy, "but Miss Selenity must be getting her sleep. From what I'm aware of, she begins her training tomorrow."

"No problem." said Jubilee. "I'll see ya tomorrow. Good night Claudia, Beast." She exited the room.

"Bonne nuit." Claudia said to Jubilee as she left. She looked at Beast and asked, "Can I sleep in my new room, instead of here?"

"Hmm... I guess so." replied the doctor. "But I expect you to stop by the infirmary tomorrow morning, so that I can examine you to see if there are any side effects from your incident."

"All right." agreed Claudia as she got off the bed and stood up. "Bon soir." She walked out of the infirmary and headed towards her room.

Claudia was about to enter her room, when she saw Wolverine down the hall. He was walking away from her in the other direction.

"Wolverine!" she cried out softly. She assumed that he could hear her. He did and turned around to stare at her.

"Ah..." She wasn't sure about what to say. "Umm... I just wanted to say thanks for bringing me to the infirmary... Good night." She said these words very quickly just before she entered her room, not giving Wolverine time to respond.

Claudia took off her bathing suit and slipped into her black pajamas. She nestled into her new bed comfortably and thought about what had happened in the past few days.

_A week ago, I was living a normal life. And now? I'm in New York with a mutant team, here to learn about my powers. I never would have thought that this would be possible! Considering what happened today, I wonder if every day is going to be so eventful? Only time will tell._

She drifted off to asleep after that last thought.

The time was 3:30 am and noises could be heard from within Claudia's room. She had fallen asleep five hours ago. Now she was having a nightmare:

Claudia felt like she was imprisoned. She couldn't move, even if she had wanted to. She knew she was screaming, but she couldn't hear her cries. All she could feel was pain. She felt extremely helpless and powerless.

While she was asleep, Claudia changed into her cat state. She tossed and turned in her bed while dreaming. While she tossed, one of her claws lacerated her face and blood poured from the wound. Her elongated and eminently sharp canine teeth cut her lower lip. Claudia woke up at that instant, sweat and blood running down her face. She could taste her salty blood in her mouth. Claudia felt a stinging pain on her left cheek. She carefully put the tips of her fingers on the left side of her face and felt something wet. She removed her hand and looked at it in the dark, with her cat eyes. She immediately identified the substance as her own blood.

Claudia hopped out of bed and rushed into the bathroom. She turned on the light and looked at herself in the mirror. She gasped as she looked upon her reflection. Her face had been cut from her cheek bone to her jaw. Claudia noticed that her heart was still beating quickly. She tried to calm herself down, but it wasn't helping. In fact, it was making her feel worse.

As she stared at herself in the mirror, the elongated claws, the lengthened canine teeth, the yellow eyes, something began to grow inside of her, in the pit of her stomach. Claudia recalled her dream and the feelings of helplessness. She didn't know how, but she knew that the dream was about when she had disappeared. Tears flowed from her eyes and mingled with the blood and sweat already on her face. She looked at her reflection again and felt something inside of her break.

With an inhuman cry, Claudia slashed the mirror in front of her, leaving four marks.

After her outburst, Claudia felt better and she relaxed. She willed herself to change and she was back to her human state.

Claudia slunk down to the floor and cried. This had been the first time that she had ever let go of her self-control and given in to her suppressed feelings. She composed herself quickly and her tears stopped.

Already, Claudia could hear footsteps coming towards her room. There was a knock at her door.

Claudia turned off the bathroom light and rushed quietly into bed.

Another knock was heard and Claudia pretended to be asleep. The door to her room was opened.

"Claudia?" Without opening her eyes, Claudia knew that it was Storm. There came a second voice which said, "Is everything all right?" Claudia recognized the second voice to be Cyclops'.

Claudia made noises like if she had just woken up and she looked up at the black woman in her doorway and the man with shades behind her. Had Storm turned on the light, she would've noticed that the left side of Claudia's face was covered in dried blood and that her lips as well had blood on them.

"Uh yeah." replied Claudia slowly. "Why?"

"A noise was heard a few minutes ago which originated from this room." said Storm.

"We thought that perhaps you were in trouble." informed Cyclops.

"Oh! I'm sorry about that." stated Claudia. "I was having a nightmare. I'm okay now."

"You're sure everything's all right?" asked Storm.

"Positive." replied Claudia reassuringly.

"Well, then, pleasant dreams." said Storm as she closed the door to Claudia's room.

Claudia ran into the bathroom and cleaned the blood off from her face and hand. She walked back to the bed and got under the covers. Claudia sighed and relaxed in her new bed. She quickly drifted off to sleep again.

A fourteen-year-old opened her eyes and smiled as she saw the sun's rays pouring into her room. Claudia sat up in her bed and looked at the clock, which read the time: 7:30 am. She pondered what she was going to tell everyone if they questioned her about the cut on her face.

__

Maybe I could avoid being asked... whenever someone asks about it, I could change the subject... Then again, somehow I don't think that that's going to work. So, what am I going to do?

Claudia got out of her bed and walked over to the bathroom. Quickly disrobing, she went into the shower and turned on the water. She pondered upon her problem while the hot water and soap ran down her body. After a few minutes, she stepped out of the shower and dried herself. Nude, she walked out of the bathroom and put on her black undergarments. Claudia took a black scrunchie and with it, put her curly, black hair in a ponytail. She dressed herself in black jeans and black socks. She was about to put on a black T-shirt, when an idea occurred to her. Claudia walked over to the closet and sorted through her clothes. She finally decided upon a black T-shirt with a hood. She slipped the shirt on, put the hood over head, hiding her face, and put on her black Nike sneakers. She opened the door, exited her room and headed towards the kitchen, for breakfast.

The adolescent walked into the kitchen and saw two adults sitting at the table drinking what Claudia thought was coffee.

"Good morning." Claudia greeted the adults. She smiled, but her grin could hardly be seen because of the hood covering her face.

"Good morning." said one the adults, Storm. She took a sip of her coffee.

"I hope that any unpleasant dreams did not follow after the incident this morning." said the other adult, Cyclops.

"Uh, no." replied Claudia quickly. A little too quickly in her opinion. Thankfully, the adults did not seem to notice. "So, may I ask, what is there to eat for breakfast?"

"There is cereal." responded Storm.

"I think Jubilee eats something called Crunched Captain... Captain Crunched..." Cyclops stated, unsure.

"Captain Crunch." corrected Claudia.

"The cereal is in the cupboard to your left." Storm told Claudia.

"Thank you." said Claudia. She walked over to the cupboard and removed the cereal. She found the bowls and emptied some cereal into it. Claudia opened the refrigerator and removed the milk. She poured the milk in, got a spoon and sat down at the table, across from Storm.

"May I ask you two something?" asked Claudia.

"But of course." replied Storm.

"You know that room? What's it called again... the Danger Room! Yeah, that's it! Uh, nothing bad... ever happens there? Right? I mean, nobody gets hurt... or anything... do they?"

There was a pause as the field commanders of the X-Men considered their response. Cyclops was reminded of that time when Gambit had by accident turned the difficulty level of Danger Room to the maximum and he had been the only person in the room at the time. He had almost died.

Storm recalled the time when in a training exercise, she had lost control over her powers because of her claustrophobia. She had almost severely injured her teammates.

"Uh, why do you ask?" questioned Cyclops.

"Well, Professor Xavier told me that I would be practicing my powers in simulations and Jubilee told me that the Danger Room is where the simulations would take place. I guess when I heard the name, I just started to wonder what kind of simulations were being run."

"There is always the possibility of injuring oneself." stated Storm.

"Oh." said Claudia. She realized that they hadn't answered her question and she figured that people most probably got hurt.

Claudia finished her cereal, put the dish in the sink and washed it.

"Thank you for your time." said Claudia. She walked out of the kitchen and headed towards the infirmary.

Claudia walked into the infirmary and saw Doctor McCoy hanging upside down with some chemicals in his hands.

"Nice to see you again Dr. McCoy." said Claudia while looking up at the mutant.

"Why hello Ms. Selenity, my dear." responded Beast. He flipped off the ceiling and landed gracefully on the ground without spilling the chemicals in his hands. He looked at her face and noticed that he could hardly see it because of the hood. "Now why cover such a pretty face?"

Claudia blushed darkly, but Beast couldn't see because of the hood covering her face.

She cleared her throat and said, "I just felt like wearing this shirt."

"But of course." replied Beast. He motioned for her to sit down on the bed and she did. "Have you had any dizziness?"

"No."

"Have you been feeling nauseous? Felt sick in any way?"

"Not at all." replied Claudia.

"Could you remove your hood?"

Claudia recoiled. _If I take off my hood he's going to see my cut and he's going to wonder what happened. Then there'll be all sorts of questions about what happened and then everyone's going to find out about my transformation... I can't let that happen! It's not time._

"Is there something wrong?" asked Beast, noticing that Claudia hadn't done what he had asked.

Claudia hopped off the bed and said quickly, "I'm sorry, but could we do this at another time? I really don't want to be late for my first training exercise. Bye." She dashed out of the infirmary, leaving Dr. McCoy extremely confused. He ran out of the infirmary after her and called, "Claudia! Wait!" She pretended not to hear him and ran faster.

She ran as fast as she could to her room. Claudia entered her room and closed the door behind her. She sat in the room panting while she contemplated what she had just done. _Now that wasn't the smartest thing to do! What was I thinking? I can't believe I just ran out of there! What am I going to do?_

There was a knock at the door and Claudia turned around hoping that it wasn't Dr. McCoy at the door wondering why she had run out. She tentatively opened the door and relaxed when she saw that it was Jean Grey. _Hope she can't read my thoughts!_

"Yes?" said Claudia. She noticed that Jean Grey seemed distracted.

"Huh... oh! Claudia. It's time for you training exercise." informed Jean.

_Oh! I totally forgot the time!_, thought Claudia.

"This way." Jean motioned in the direction. Claudia followed Jean down the hall until they got to a room, which looked like a study hall. Claudia looked around and saw Professor Xavier sitting in his floating chair at the far end of the study. Jean Grey closed the door and left Claudia alone with the most powerful telepath on the planet (unbeknownst to her).

"Please, sit down." said Professor Xavier as he motioned towards a chair in front of him. Claudia sat down.

"Pardon me for asking, but I was under the impression that I was going to start my training." said Claudia.

"We have already begun."

"But I thought that I was going to be doing it in simulations."

"You shall."

_Could this be more confusing?_, thought Claudia as she merely nodded towards what Professor Xavier had just told her.

"Before you can proceed in a simulation, we must learn the extent of your powers and what you can accomplish." informed Professor Xavier.

_That makes sense_, thought Claudia.

"But, there's nothing that I know how to do with my powers." stated Claudia.

"There must be something that you can do."

"Do?" Claudia shook her head. "I... don't... know how to do anything!"

Professor Xavier sat in thought as he wondered what he was going to do with this adolescent.

"It is obvious that you have some sort of control over your powers." said Professor Xavier. "Have you ever considered the possibility of relinquishing your control?"

Claudia recalled the time when she had first discovered her powers. She had been on vacation with her best friend and her family. She had been twelve at the time. Her and Dana had been in a hotel suite by themselves and had been fooling around when all of sudden, she had touched the toaster and absorbed the electricity. A small burst of electricity shot out from her hands and had hit her stereo, which wasn't plugged in. The stereo started to play. Both Dana and Claudia had been extremely stunned. At the time, Claudia had thought that this incident was spectacular.

Later on in the evening, Claudia had by accident shot electricity from her hands and had nearly hit Dana, but instead hit her walkman and it was destroyed. From that moment on, Claudia had never tried to learn about her powers, and vowed only to suppress them. She knew that if she lost control, there could be dire consequences. The only time she had, was at that incident in school.

"I can see that you have not." said Professor Xavier, easily reading her thoughts. "Then, it is time for you to try."

_This seems highly hazardous. I could injure myself, or him._

"I am quite serious Claudia." stated Professor Xavier. "And I trust that you have enough control to not harm yourself or me."

_Wish I was that confident about my powers._

Claudia stood up and went to the center of the study, where she thought there was enough room for her to experiment. She closed her eyes and tried to focus on her suppression. She told herself to just let go and let her powers course through her body.

"No Claudia!" exclaimed Professor Xavier. Claudia's eyes snapped open quickly and she looked upon the Professor, perplexed. "You must not completely release your suppression, lest you shall lose what little control you ever had."

"Then how am I going to do it?" asked Claudia.

"Close your eyes." ordered the Professor. Claudia shut her eyes. "Now think of your suppression as a room and your powers are within the room. The door to the room is how you can release your powers. You must open the door slowly. Like a crack. Releasing a little amount of your powers."

Claudia envisioned what the Professor was saying and did exactly what he told her. Claudia could feel something coursing through her body. With a gasp, she opened her eyes. Claudia looked down at her hands and saw electrical sparks at her fingertips. She looked up and saw the Professor with a satisfied look on his face.

"Now, do you see the cup on the table to your left?" said Professor Xavier. Claudia turned and nodded. "You shall use your powers and hit that target."

_Can he be serious? I can't believe that he's asking me to do this._

"Claudia, you must have confidence in yourself." stated the Professor, knowing exactly what she was thinking. "With confidence, you can accomplish many things. You must focus."

Claudia took a deep breath and faced the cup, which was about three meters away from her. She focused upon the mug. Pointing her right index finger, Claudia focused upon releasing a small amount of her powers through her fingertips. A small electrical outburst escaped her fingertip and hit the mug with extreme accuracy, destroying the pottery.

_I don't believe it! I can't believe that I did that! That was incredible!_

Claudia turned around to face Professor Xavier who had a pleased look upon his face.

"We may now proceed to the Danger Room." said the Professor, "and I assure you that your exercise shall not be as difficult as you might think."

The Professor, in his floating chair, headed out of the room, with Claudia behind him as they headed towards the Danger Room.

The massive doors to the Danger Room opened and Claudia stepped in, alone. As the doors closed behind her, the room was completely dark. Yet Claudia felt right at home. _It's strange... I never really liked the dark until after my abduction... Anyway, enough of that. Just concentrate on the situation at hand._

Claudia looked around the dark Danger Room and wondered what kind of simulation the Professor was going to put her through. _I hope that I can handle this_, she thought.

All of a sudden, a mist swirled around her and the Danger Room. _I guess the simulation's starting._ She took off her hood, hoping that nobody could see her cut. Claudia took a deep breath and exhaled. _This is it!_

Then, Claudia could hear Professor Xavier's voice, echoing throughout the Danger Room, "Remember Claudia, do not completely let go of your suppression. Just open the door a crack."

As soon as the voice stopped, Claudia saw someone coming towards her. The person was quite tall. Getting closer, Claudia noticed that the person was a man. A man with a mowhawk! _What is with that haircut'? The man was also wearing tights, a red cape and red boots with yellow lining. Who does this guy think he is? Superman on a bad hair day?_ Unbeknownst to Claudia, the computer image was of an imperial guard of the Shi'ar Empire, named Gladiator.

Claudia took a fighting stance, something she had learned in her martial arts classes. Before Claudia could react, the man took a deep breath and blew at Claudia. She was flung a few meters from her previous position. As she hit the ground, she felt a small pain in her buttocks. _Oww! That's going to leave a mark!_ She got back up on her feet and looked upon her opponent. An optic blast came from Gladiator's eyes and hit Claudia's chest. She hit the wall. _Wasn't ready for that one! Let's think about this logically and assume that this guy has pretty much the same powers as Superman. I must attempt to dodge his shots._

Claudia stood up again. Gladiator fired another optic blast, but this time, she was ready for it. Claudia did a somersault and dodged the blast. _All right! Now focus!_ Claudia focused upon her powers and an electrical blast shot out from her fingertips and hit Gladiator. He merely stumbled a little. _Not good enough! The blast must be more intense!_

She decided to open the door to her powers a little bit wider and released a more powerful electrical burst. This time, Gladiator fell over and the computer image disappeared. Claudia was now looking upon a robot.

"Asta la vista. Baby." said Claudia, imitating Arnold Schwarzenegger, as she had heard her friend Dana exclaim whenever she would finish off an opponent. Claudia electrically charged the robot, totally obliterating it.

"Your enthusiasm is understandable, but you have only begun to discover your powers." said Xavier. "The next simulation shall now be more difficult."

Claudia tensed as she saw two figures emerge from the mist. As the figures came closer, she noticed that the first figure was Spider-man! _Spider-man! Too bad he's not real!_ The second figure looked liked someone out of Mortal Kombat. The person resembled Kabal from Mortal Kombat 3.

Spider-man shot some webbing at Claudia, but she quickly dodged out of the way. The Kabal look-a-like, ran towards her. Claudia abruptly did a roundhouse kick and hit Kabal in the face, sending him to the ground. She focused her powers and was about to shoot Kabal, when she was assaulted from behind by Spider-man. He had attached himself to the wall, jumped off and crashed right into her.

Claudia lay on the ground, wondering what she was going to do about her adversaries. _Didn't see that one coming. Remember, never take your eyes off of either of them._

"All right boys!" said Claudia. She did a cartwheel out of the way as Kabal tried to jumpkick her. "You wanna play?" She fired an electrical blast at Spider-man's webbing and made him fall to the ground. Both of Claudia's adversaries were now next to each other, on the ground. "Well, let's play!"

Claudia ran towards them and before they could do anything, she did a graceful flip over them. Turning around, she noticed that Kabal and Spider-man hadn't reacted. She had only mere seconds. She directed her hands at both antagonists and fired upon them both, destroying her opponents.

"Yeah!" exclaimed Claudia, delighted with her performance.

Claudia quickly put her hood back on over her face as the doors to the Danger Room opened. Professor Xavier and Jubilee were waiting outside. Claudia walked towards them.

"That is all the training you shall have for today." informed the Professor. "Tomorrow, the simulations shall be harder. But now, you may enjoy the rest of the day."

Claudia was glad that she didn't have to go to her educational classes, because she was feeling a bit drained and a bit sore from her exercises.

Xavier left the two teenagers while he went to attend a situation that was developing that the X-Men had to handle.

"I saw your training exercise. You were totally awesome!" said Jubilee. "I was never that good, my first time."

"Thanks." replied Claudia. "Do you know what time it is?"

"I think it's about 11:55."

"Good. We can watch Sailor Moon."

"You watch Sailor Moon?" asked Jubilee.

"A little." Actually, Claudia had only seen a few episodes. Dana had recommended the show to her.

"I thought I was the only one who watched it."

"A lot of my friends back home watch Sailor Moon."

"Cool." responded Jubilee. "Let's go."

The adolescents headed to the rec. room. Claudia and Jubilee sat down just as Sailor Moon started. Jubilee started to sing the theme song, "Fighting evil by moonlight! Winning love by daylight! Never running from a real fight. She is the one named Sailor Moon!"

"Don't you think that Tuxedo Mask sucks as a bad guy?" commented Jubilee.

"I agree." remarked Claudia. "As a villain, he's become much more annoying."

The episode was just about to start when there was a special news bulletin.

"We interrupt this program to bring you startling news: a band of mutants have gone on the rampage. Witnesses have claimed that they saw the mutants attacking innocent civilians. The mutants claim they want to liberate all mutant kind from the oppression of humans."

_It was never this bad in Montreal_, thought Claudia.

Professor Xavier's voice came on the intercom, "X-Men! Report to the War Room, immediately."

Jubilee stood up and switched off the television. She was about to leave the room when she said to Claudia, "You comin'?"

"Am I supposed to?"

"I don't know." replied Jubilee honestly. "Why don't you come down to the War Room anyway and we'll see what happens."

Claudia merely nodded.

She followed Jubilee to the War Room where all of the X-Men sat. Claudia stood close to the door, just in case they asked her to leave. _How oddly they are dressed. Why is Cyclops wearing a visor? Shouldn't Rogue get hot being totally suited up. Why is she wearing those gloves? I wonder why all of the X-Men find the need to be dressed so elaborately. Shall I have to do the same? That would be intriguing._

Xavier was in the middle of telling the X-Men what they had to do, "These mutants must be stopped or tensions between mutants and humans shall increase, starting a civil war."

_Is it that bad down here? Maybe I was better off in Canada_, thought Claudia.

"Let's move." Cyclops ordered the other X-Men.

Jubilee was about to follow the other X-Men when Wolverine said, "Sorry kid. Not this time."

"What? Why not?" protested Jubilee.

"Wolverine is right." stated Professor Xavier. "Both you and Claudia are needed here."

Jubilee looked extremely disappointed. Poor Jubilee. _Something tells me that this happens a lot_, thought Claudia.

Claudia and Jubilee followed the X-Men to the BlackBird. _Now this is surprising_, thought Claudia. _I had no idea that the X-Men had such equipment. Wow! They even have mini-jets. I wonder if I could ever fly one of them._

The two teenagers merely watched as the adults boarded the jet leaving the adolescents behind.

"Man! This sucks!" stated Jubilee. "Why is it that I'm always the one that gets left behind?"

"You always get left behind? That's too bad." said Claudia. "Isn't there something we can do while we wait?"

"Yeah. We're supposed to put up the defensive perimeter and prep the infirmary in case of casualties."

"Casualties? Please tell me you don't expect casualties?" said Claudia becoming anxious.

"Take it easy." replied Jubilee, trying to calm her new friend. "Usually... no, there aren't any casualties... but, you never know."

"Well, we might as well get started."

The juveniles headed towards the War Room. Once there, Jubilee showed Claudia how to operate the defense perimeter. Claudia quickly learned how to use the hidden weapons and the rest of the defensive perimeter.

Next, Jubilee and Claudia went to the infirmary. Again, Jubilee showed Claudia how to use the medical equipment, in case of certain injuries or emergencies.

"I just hope that nobody gets hurt." stated Claudia.

"Even Wolverine?" joked Jubilee.

Claudia thought about it. "Hmm... I... don't know... I... guess so..."

"You're not serious, are ya?"

Claudia hesitated before responding. "I guess not. I wouldn't want to see anybody get hurt... not even someone like Wolverine."

Jubilee chuckled.

"Shall we pick up from where we left off?" asked Jubilee.

"Pardon?"

" 'Member yesterday? I was telling you about my powers and the X-Men, when we got kind of interrupted by a falling lamppost."

"Oh yes, that!" responded Claudia. "I had almost forgotten. So, tell me about the other X-Men's powers."

"Well, let's see," commenced Jubilee. "who to start with? How about Cyclops?"

Claudia nodded.

"As you can probably tell from his name, his mutant power has to do with his eyes. He can shoot lasers from his eyes. The only way he can control the blasts is with that visor he wears."

"So that's why you and Jean laughed when I commented about the shades." Claudia figured out. "What about Storm?"

"Oh, she can control the weather and fly."

"Fascinating. I wish I could fly."

"Same here." responded Jubilee. "Next, there's Jean. She can read minds, talk telepathically and lift things with her mind."

"Telekinesis!? Impressive."

"Gambit can turn objects into bombs just by touching them."

"You mean he kinetically charges objects so that they explode?"

"Uh, yeah. Whatever you say." replied Jubilee. "Rogue can fly and is super strong. Also, if she touches anyone, she can absorb their strength, powers and their memories."

"You mean, she can't touch anyone?"

Jubilee sighed and nodded.

"That's horrible..."

"Anyway," started Jubilee. "Beast has like super agility and is stronger than most people. And last but not least, Wolverine has adamantium claws and super healing."

"Interesting." commented Claudia. "So if I mildly electrocuted him, he would recover very fast, right?"

"Yeah, but I don't see why... wait a minute!" Jubilee saw the insidious grin on Claudia's face. "Don't get any ideas, Claudia."

Claudia laughed. "Wouldn't dream of it, Jubilee!" she remarked sarcastically. "So, tell me about your adventures with the X-Men."

"Well, where to start?" began Jubilee. "I know! I'll tell you about when I first met the X-Men. You see, I had found out that my foster parents had registered me with the Mutant Control Agency."

"What's that?"

"It was this agency that tricked mutants into revealing their identities." replied Jubilee. "Anyway, I went to the mall and this huge robot called a Sentinel, tracked me down. The X-Men saved me and brought here. But, then I went home to see if my parents were all right and was captured by two Sentinels. They brought me to this place where they questioned me about the X-Men. I didn't know anything about them at the time. Eventually, the X-Men showed up and they saved me again. I decided then that Professor Xavier's school was the best place for me."

"Captured by giant robots." said Claudia slowly. "Uh huh."

"Oh and there was the time that we went to Muir Island to check out this thing because the Professor was acting really strange and saying that he was being visited by this alien named Lilandra. Turns out, she was real and we had to fight Juggernaut, that's like, Xavier's half brother, he's like invincible. Anyway, we had to fight him just to get Lilandra back. Anyway, this other alien, named Gladiator came, but Jean showed up and whooped his ass good. Then, the X-Men had to go and save the universe from Lilandra's evil brother, D'Kenn. What sucked was that I was left behind. You remember last year? There were all sorts of weird things happening with the weather?"

"Yes, I recall that incident." responded Claudia.

"Well, you see, the Earth and our solar system were being pulled into the M'Krann crystal and everything was going to be destroyed. Fortunately, Jean was able to stop D'Kenn and save the universe, with the power of the Phoenix."

"The Phoenix?"

"Yeah, but then, you should've seen what happened next! The Phoenix wanted to feel emotions and all sorts of weird stuff happened. Jean died and then the X-Men had to give some of their life force to save her, so then everything was okay."

"Jean died?"

"Yep. Then there was the time that Bishop showed up. Bishop's a time traveler from the future. He came back into the past to stop President Kelly's assassination. One of the X-Men was supposed to be the assassin. But it turned out, it was a shapeshifter who wanted to frame the X-Men."

"A time traveler?"

"Oh and there was the time that after Jean and Scott's wedding, Jean was kidnapped by this mutant named Sinister."

_Sinister_, thought Claudia. _That name sounds vaguely familiar?_ She shrugged the thought away.

"A mutant named Apocalypse was capturing the most powerful psychics and bringing them to the Axis Of Time."

"Apocalypse? Wasn't he the one that interrupted the World Peace Conference a few years ago?"

"Yeah." replied Jubilee.

"And what's this Axis Of Time?"

"It's this place outside of time. Apocalypse brought the psychics there so that he could destroy time and make things the way he wanted. This mutant from the future, Cable, came back into the past to help the X-Men stop Apocalypse who had also captured the Professor."

"Another time traveler?"

"Uh huh. I'm not quite sure what happened to Apocalypse, but I know that all the psychics got rid of him for good."

"Time travelers? Assassins? Giant robots? Aliens? The end of the universe? People dying and coming back?" said Claudia, not believing a word of what Jubilee had just told her. "Pardon me if I find this a bit farfetched."

"You don't believe me?" asked Jubilee. She sounded hurt.

"W-Well, it's not that I don't believe you." said Claudia quickly, not wanting to hurt her friend. "It's just, it sounds like something out of a comic book, or a TV show... It's just pretty fantastic, that's all. Where I come from, stuff like that never happens!"

"Oh, okay." responded Jubilee. "So, do you want me to tell you more about the X-Men?"

Claudia didn't respond. She couldn't hear Jubilee.

"Claudia?" She waved her hand in front of her friend's face. "Yo! Claudia!" She appeared dazed.

Claudia was having a flashback. She remembered being extremely cold. It was dark and she couldn't see anything. Pain was coursing through her body. She felt a presence. She wasn't alone...

"No! Get away from me!" cried out Claudia as her flashback faded away.

"Claudia! Snap out of it!" yelled Jubilee. She shook Claudia. Her hood fell off her face, revealing Claudia's laceration. "Claudia, what happened to your face?"

Because of Jubilee shaking her, Claudia instinctively changed to her cat state. Jubilee quickly let go of the other teenager.

Claudia looked down at her hands, horrified.

"No!" she screamed. She looked at Jubilee who had an uncomprehending and fearful look on her face. Jubilee couldn't suppress a shudder as she looked upon Claudia and noticed her eyes. "You weren't supposed to find out! Not now!" Claudia bolted out of the infirmary... with Jubilee on her heels.

"Claudia!" she yelled after her. "Don't go!"

Claudia stopped. She turned around and faced her friend. Now that Claudia had stopped, Jubilee didn't know what to say. Thankfully for her, the alarm sounded and both Jubilee and Claudia rushed into the War Room.

"The BlackBird's coming." informed Jubilee.

Claudia internally calmed herself down and changed back to her human state. She put her hood back on. Claudia put her hand on Jubilee's shoulder. Jubilee turned around and gave a sigh of relief as she noticed that Claudia was back to normal.

"You won't... tell anyone, will you?" asked Claudia quietly.

"Not if you don't want me to." responded Jubilee.

"Please, don't." said Claudia.

"Does the Professor know?"

"No." replied Claudia. "And I don't want him or anyone to know... not yet, at least. So please... keep it to yourself."

"All right." said Jubilee. "Let's go to the hangar."

Jubilee and Claudia walked to the hangar where they saw the BlackBird. The stairs lowered as Claudia held her breath, hoping that nobody, not even Wolverine, was hurt. The X-Men exited the jet. All of them appeared to be fine. Claudia sighed, fully relieved. Jubilee ran over to Wolverine and asked him what had happened when they encountered the rampaging mutants.

"We tried talkin' to them, but they weren't in the mood. They wanted a fight, so we gave them one. The cowards weren't up for it and chickened out." was the reply.

Claudia heard every word of what Wolverine had just told Jubilee. That's odd, she thought. _Why would they want to do battle, and then retreat without any confrontation! Maybe they weren't aware of who they were facing!_

Claudia saw Beast descend from the BlackBird and she immediately decided that she should go. Leaving Jubilee talking with Wolverine about the battle, Claudia exited the hangar. Had she reacted sooner, Henry McCoy wouldn't have noticed her leaving. The doctor leaped over to the exit and followed the teenager.

As Claudia headed to her room, she felt as if someone was following her. She felt a presence. She wasn't alone...

Claudia was gripped with fear as she recalled her flashback. She put her hands to her head. "No! I don't want to remember!" she screamed as she fell to her knees, as if in pain.

Doctor McCoy rushed over to the adolescent. Claudia felt an arm on her shoulder.

"Claudia? Are you all right?" asked the concerned doctor.

As she looked up at him, her hood fell off her face.

"Claudia... your face!" exclaimed Beast. _What has happened to this girl?_, he asked himself.

The rest of the X-Men came rushing into the hall. Claudia quickly replaced the hood.

"What is wrong?" asked Storm.

"I... uh..." stammered Claudia. There were tears streaking her face, hidden by the hood.

"The young lady appears to have fallen." Beast filled in the blank.

Jubilee walked over to Claudia. She bent down and noticed the tears on Claudia's face. Claudia inched closer and whispered in Jubilee's ear. "Please, help me! I'm going to transform! I'm trying to hold it back, but it's going to happen. I don't want them to see."

_Transform? Into what?_, thought Wolverine, easily hearing what Claudia had said. _What is she hiding?_

Jubilee could already see that Claudia's eyes had changed.

"Is she going to be all right?" asked Cyclops.

"Yeah." replied Jubilee quickly. "I'm gonna take her to her room."

The teenagers stood up and Jubilee led the way, leaving the X-Men. Some of them were confused, while others were wondering what they were going to about the new resident of Xavier's School For The Gifted.

Claudia rushed into the bathroom, just as Jubilee closed the door to Claudia's room behind her. As Jubilee walked towards the bathroom, Claudia slammed the door fiercely.

"Claudia!" said Jubilee. She could hear sobbing from within the washroom.

"I don't want you to see me like this." said Claudia.

"Claudia, please come out." pleaded Jubilee.

"No! I shall not come out!" retorted Claudia. She opened the door. "You're coming in." She put her arm around Jubilee and pulled her into the bathroom.

The first thing that Jubilee noticed, was the four slash marks on the mirror. _Just how strong are those claws of hers?_, Jubilee asked herself_. The only other person I know who could do what she did, is Wolverine._

"I thought your powers had to do with electricity." whispered Jubilee.

"*Hiss* My **mutant** power has to do with electricity." stated Claudia. "But this," She referred to her claws. "This has nothing to do with me being a mutant!"

"What happened?"

"I... don't know."

"You mean you have no idea about-" Jubilee was interrupted by a sharp knock at Claudia's door.

"Claudia?" came a voice from outside in the hallway. Claudia immediately identified the voice to be Dr. McCoy's.

"Please, I don't want to talk anybody." Claudia whispered to Jubilee.

"Okay. I'll take care of it." Jubilee exited the bathroom and went to answer the door.

"Hi Beast." greeted Jubilee as she opened the door.

"Is the young lady feeling all right?" asked Beast, concerned about Claudia.

"Uh, yeah!" replied Jubilee quickly. "She's just fine."

"May I see her?"

"Um... why?"

"I was concerned about the laceration on her face. Perhaps it could be infected."

"Laceration? Wh-wh-what laceration?"

"The one on her left cheek."

"You must be imagining things. She doesn't have a cut." said Jubilee.

"I distinctly remember seeing a wound-"

Claudia interrupted him. "Jubilee! Could you please bring me my pad! All this blood would induce you to believe that I was dying!"

"Uh oh! Gotta go!" exclaimed Jubilee. Before she closed the door, she said to Beast, "It's a girl thing!" She closed the door and let out a sigh of relief as she heard Doctor McCoy's retreating footsteps.

"Thanks Claudia." said Jubilee as Claudia emerged from the bathroom, in her human state. "I didn't think that I was going to be able to get rid of him."

"I should be thanking you." responded Claudia.

Jubilee walked over to Claudia and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"My problems are my problems. You don't need to worry about me." responded Claudia.

"But-"

"Please," interrupted Claudia, "I really don't want to talk about it... at least, not now."

"I understand." replied Jubilee.

_Yeah! I bet you do_, thought Claudia sarcastically. _Even with all the so-called adventures that you've gone on, I'm positive that you could never understand._

"So," commenced Claudia as she sat down on her bed, "Tell me more about your adventures with the X-Men." Claudia did not necessarily believe Jubilee's stories, but found them entertaining, never the less.

"Let's see," started Jubilee, as she sat down next to Claudia, "I remember when Storm, Gambit and I went to Genosha."

"Genosha? That name sounds familiar." remarked Claudia. She thought about it. "Isn't Genosha that place where they capture mutants and force them into slavery."

"That's right. And yours truly was forced to work for those jerks!"

"You, Storm and Gambit were captured?" asked Claudia. Jubilee nodded. "But, why didn't you use your powers and break out of there?"

"They had these collars that makes it so that you can't use your powers. There were these other mutants there too. We tried to break out, but Gambit told the prison guards of our plan."

"What? Gambit betrayed you?" asked Claudia, utterly bewildered.

"It's okay." replied Jubilee. "Turns out, Gambit just earned their trust so that he could unsuspectingly break us out. The rest of the X-Men showed up and we all escaped. But, when we got back here, the mansion was like, totaled."

"Completely?"

"Totally totaled!" exclaimed Jubilee. "And we were really worried. The Professor was supposed to be there. Fortunately, he had left before the mansion was destroyed. We needed to find out who done it. Our only clue was a footprint. Man, was it huge! Anyway, Wolverine went on his own to try and find out who trashed the mansion. Storm, Rogue and I had to go find him, to make sure he didn't get in trouble. Fortunately, I found Wolverine first. We met this guy named Colossus. We thought he was the one that trashed the mansion cause he was like, a really strong mutant. But he wasn't the guy. The guy was actually Juggernaut. We fought him, but our powers didn't work on him, cause he's like, invincible. So, Jean wiped his memory. He couldn't remember who he was, for a time."

"You mean, Jean gave him amnesia? I didn't know she could do that."

"So, you got any stories to tell?"

Claudia laughed. "Nothing half as exciting as your adventures. I only wish my life were as exciting as yours."

"Trust me, when you hang with the coolest mutant team ever, your life can't help but be exciting!" stated Jubilee enthusiastically.

"So, is there anything interesting we can do around here?" asked Claudia.

"I don't know. We could always go swimming." Both of them laughed at that suggestion.

"Maybe some other time." said Claudia between chuckles.

"Well, wanna go snooping around to see if anything cool is happenin'?"

"Sure!" exclaimed Claudia, attempting to imitate a surfer.

The two teenagers walked out of Claudia's room.

"So, where to first?" asked Claudia in the hallway.

"Let's check out the Danger Room." replied Jubilee.

They walked to the Danger Room and were delighted to find out that someone was using it. That someone was Wolverine.

"Shush." Jubilee whispered to Claudia as they entered the control center for the Danger Room. "Be very quiet. I don't think Wolverine would appreciate us spyin' on him."

"I'll be as quiet as cat." Claudia whispered back. Both teenagers smiled at each other. They sat down in the control center and looked upon the Danger Room.

Wolverine was inside the Danger Room using all his skills against his multiple adversaries. _Wolverine is quite good!_, thought Claudia. _Would you look at those claws! What did Jubilee say they were? Adamantium? Yes, that's what she called them. What an interesting mutant ability._

Claudia watched the play of his muscles, as they bunched and stretched beneath the skin. He stood, taking a fighting stance, then suddenly leapt into the air, momentarily confusing his opponents. He spun as he jumped, one foot lashing out in a roundhouse kick to one of the adversaries. He turned, blocked a blow and returned a one-two punch combination, then threw himself flat onto the ground. He sprang to his feet, blocked two attacks and countered with devilish speed, before returning to his original stance.

Claudia sat there, completely fascinated with what she saw. _He's incredible_, she thought. _I wonder what would happen if I did combat with him? With my mutant powers and my transformation, maybe I could... But... there's something more... Why am I so fascinated with him? I can't take my eyes off him... He's just so good! He's amazing! I could look at him fight for hours._

With great difficulty, Claudia stole a quick glance at Jubilee. _Look at her!_, thought Claudia. _She's, as well, was enraptured by him... Enraptured... Why would I use such a word?_

She watched, utterly entranced as Wolverine finished off all of his opponents. As the program ended, the doors to the Danger Room opened, and he exited.

Jubilee got up quickly and said to Claudia, "We gotta go. Wolverine might come up here to start another program."

Claudia couldn't move. She was riveted to the spot. The images of Wolverine fighting were going through her mind.

"Come on Claudia! Don't space out on me now." said Jubilee.

Claudia snapped out of her trance and got up. Her body felt extremely stiff.

"We gotta move." exclaimed Jubilee. The two teenagers rushed out of the control room, just as Wolverine rounded the corner. Claudia and Jubilee ran as fast as they could. Before they rounded the corner, Claudia looked back at Wolverine. She didn't know what to make of the expression upon his face. _Is he angry? I can't tell._

The two teenagers ran until they got to the rec. room. There, the two of them caught their breath and recovered from their run. Though, they weren't alone. Gambit and Rogue were there too, playing pool.

Before Jubilee had time to quiet her, Claudia asked, "Do you think Wolverine will be upset with us?"

"And why would Wolverine be upset with the two of you?" questioned Rogue, who had heard Claudia.

"You shouldn't have said anything!" Jubilee whispered to Claudia.

"Sorry." Claudia whispered back.

Jubilee tried to answer Rogue's question, "Well... um... we sort of-"

"Caught him making out with someone!" said Claudia quickly. Uh oh, thought Claudia.

"Yeah." replied Jubilee. Then Claudia's words sunk in. _What?!_, Jubilee's head screamed. She turned to Claudia with an utterly confused look upon her face. Gambit and Rogue did not notice.

"And who was he makin' out wit?" asked Gambit thoughtfully.

Claudia thought quickly. _I can't say Jean, she's married to Cyclops. Can't say Rogue, she's right here. Who else is there? I got it!_

"Storm." stated Claudia.Jubilee covered her eyes with her hands and shook her head. "Oh my god!" she whispered to herself. Speaking up louder, she said, "I think Claudia was mistaken. I think she meant to say that we caught them making crout! Not making out."

"Right." agreed Claudia quickly. "It was just a slip of the tongue." She chuckled nervously. The adults gave them an unbelieving look.

"What the heck is crout?" asked Rogue.

"Sauerkraut!" stated Claudia.

Jubilee grabbed Claudia by the hand and dragged her out of the rec. room while saying to the grown-ups, "Sorry. We gotta go! Bye!"

The adolescents headed to the kitchen."You idiot!" ejaculated Jubilee. She began to laugh. "I can't believe you said that!""Well, I didn't see you giving any ideas." retorted Claudia.

"If I hadn't saved you, do you know what kind of trouble we could've gotten in?"

"Not a clue." responded Claudia. "So, I presume Wolverine is going to be a bit upset with us?""A bit upset?" Jubilee chuckled. "We'll be lucky if he doesn't rip us apart with his claws!""What about Storm?"

"Nah. She'll be okay, since we cleared everything up." replied Jubilee. "So, how did you enjoy the show?""Amazing!! It looked like something out of that game that Dana loves so much... now what is the name again..."

"Killer Instinct? Virtua Fighter?" suggested Jubilee.

"No." responded Claudia. She thought about it for a bit. "Mortal Kombat! That's the game!""Speaking of MK, wanna go to the mall and check out the new arcades?" asked Jubilee. Then she added quickly, "That is, if you like arcades. If not, we can check out something else.""No problem! I find that some arcades are quite entertaining." remarked Claudia. "But, are we allowed to leave the school?""Yeah, no problem. We just gotta tell someone where we're going.""So, no one has to accompany us?"

Jubilee nodded. "We're not kids! We can take care of ourselves."

"Says who?" came a voice. Both teenagers spun around to see Wolverine standing in the doorway to the kitchen. He pointed a finger at the two of them. "Next time, don't let me catch you two spyin' on me."

"Uh, yeah. Whatever." said Jubilee as the two of them left the kitchen in a hurry.

In the hallway, Jubilee said, "I'll meet you in front in about five minutes. I have to go get some money."

"All right." replied Claudia as she headed to her room.As she was about to enter the hallway that led to her room, she heard some voices and stopped abruptly in her tracks.

"Have you heard?" came one voice. _That's Storm_, thought Claudia."Hear what?" came another voice. _That's Cyclops_, for sure. _Oh, I hope their not talking about the little lie that Jubilee and I said. I wouldn't want to get into trouble on my second day!_

"The Professor and Jean are having many difficulties with reading Claudia's mind." replied Storm. _They're not talking about it... but... they're talking about me!_

"But Professor Xavier is the most powerful psychic on the planet." said Cyclops. _He is? Interesting! This place keeps getting better every minute!_ "How is it that he cannot read a little girl's mind?"

"Supposedly, Claudia is able to cover up certain thoughts and if the Professor or Jean wanted to know those thoughts, they'd have to do an intense psychic probe. Even with the probe, they're not certain if they could read her thoughts." responded Storm.

"Since when does she have the ability to hide her thoughts?" asked Cyclops.

"I don't know, and neither does the Professor." said Storm. "The child is obviously hiding something. Something that she feels that she can't tell us or think about without protecting her thoughts. It must be-" Claudia didn't hear the rest as the voices became fainter as Cyclops and Storm walked down the hall and away from her.

Claudia collected her thoughts as she entered her room to get her money. She picked up her wallet and stuffed it into her pocket. _I can hide my thoughts? What a concept! This is very fascinating and quite an intriguing development... Though, I don't like the fact that they think that I'm hiding something._ Claudia exited her room, pondering her situation, and went to meet Jubilee.

"**Finish him**!" came the deep voice from the arcade game in front of Claudia. She was playing Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 and her character, Sindel, had just won against Jubilee's character, Sub-Zero. Claudia pressed some buttons and her character screamed off Jubilee's character's skin.

"Don't ya just love that fatality?" Jubilee asked Claudia.

"Definitely." agreed Claudia. They both turned away from the game and headed towards another in the crowded arcade."So, what do ya want to play next?" asked Jubilee.

"How about KI2?" suggested Claudia.

"Excellent."

They headed to the arcade game and were both surprised to find that nobody was playing it. _We're lucky. Killer Instinct 2 is really popular_, thought Claudia.

Both teenagers put their tokens in and began to play. Claudia beat Jubilee three times until they decided that they should be heading back.

As they walked through the mall, Jubilee said to Claudia, "Man, you are so good! You creamed me in everything! Killer Instinct, KI2, Mortal Kombat, MK2, MK3, Ultimate MK3, Super Street Fighter and even Primal Rage!"

"That's not true!" remarked Claudia. "I didn't beat you at everything! You beat me in Virtua Fighter and Virtua Fighter 2!"

"Yeah, but that was the first time that you had ever played either of them!"

Claudia giggled. "As my Kung-Fu teachers say, 'Perfect practice, makes perfect'!"

"You took Kung-Fu?"

"Yeah. It was a lot of fun, too." responded Claudia. "I'm a red belt. You know, I remember this time when I was in a tournament and I fought this guy. I think he was a blue or green belt. (That's lower than red belt) He was about 6 feet and I was about 5"5 at the time. I tell you, I could tell that he completely underestimated me. And because of that mistake, I was able to beat him like that." She snapped her fingers. "You should have seen his face!"

"I can imagine."

The two exited the mall into the night. The time was about 9:00 pm and the moon was shining in the sky. The last remnants of the sunset made the sky a purplish color. Claudia looked up at the sky and it took her breath away. _I love this time in the evening. The sky is just so beautiful. I could look at it forever. You could almost forget that the world is filled with mutants and humans who hate each other. Almost..._"Whatcha thinkin' about Claudia?" asked Jubilee.

"I was just wondering what the world would be like if mutants didn't exist." Jubilee gave her a quizzical look. "You know, if there were just humans... no mutants. Everything would be the same, except that there would be no mutants. People like you and me would be born Homo Sapiens. Not Homo Superior."

Jubilee thought about what Claudia said, then responded, "The world would be like, a totally **BORING** place!!!"

Claudia laughed. "Can't disagree with that!" She smiled at her new friend, who smiled back. She followed Jubilee, who led the way, for Claudia did not know exactly how to get back to the mansion. They walked in silence.

Jubilee and Claudia entered the quiet mansion in silence. No sounds could be heard from within the mansion. "Good night." she said to Jubilee as she trudged up the stairs to her chamber.

" 'Night Claudia." Jubilee called back as she headed to her own room.

Claudia opened the door to her new room and turned on the lights. Shutting the door close behind her, she walked over to her stereo and turned it on. The stereo immediately started to play the CD inside. She put the volume low as to not disturb the other inhabitants of the school.

_So, what do I think of Xavier's School For The Gifted? I have not a clue! The people seem nice; the place is fantastic... but... but what? I don't know. There's something... I don't know... Why does my gut tell me something's wrong? I feel like something is going to happen... No, that's not it! Then what is it!? I can't explain it, even in my head! I just can't shake this feeling that I have..._

With that last thought, the teenager fell asleep.

"How are we going to stop her?" asked Jean. She was trembling all over. Cyclops held his wife tightly.

"We have to get her." stated Jubilee.

"That is if she doesn't get us first." murmured Wolverine under his breath.

"We'll go in groups." stated Cyclops. "Storm, Wolverine and Jubilee, will check the lower levels. Rogue, Gambit and Beast, will check the top floors. Jean, the Professor and I will check the rest of the mansion. Wichever group finds her first will contact the rest of us and we will attempt to subdue her." Cyclops looked at the X-Men and said, "Let's go."

The X-Men left in their individual groups.

I am not close to them, but I hear their words, not completely understanding them. All I know is that they think they are hunting me, but I am not the prey. I am hunting them.

I go higher in this place. I know that three are going lower and one among the three is powerful. I will finish him last.

I hear three coming nearer to me. I make a little noise by knocking over an object, don't know what it is, drawing the three nearer. I enter a big room. My claws brush the wall and bright lights are in my face. I shriek and slash the wall, figuring the light had to do with the wall. The lights disappear. The three are running to the room. I swiftly and quietly hide in the dark, waiting. When they enter, I notice they touch the wall where I had slashed. I do not fully understand, but don't care. I pick up two objects and fling them away from each other, making two noises. The three respond, two going to one of the noises, the other going to the other noise. I take the one alone. He walks closer to the shadows, a mistake. A fatal mistake. I can see him, but he does not see me. As soon as he is completely emerged in the dark, I strike, quickly. I jump and dig my claws into the furry chest, while taking a huge bite into his hairy neck. The only sound was a moan as my prey dies. I lick my bloodstained lips with delight.I can't enjoy my kill because the other two heard the noise that the other one had made. I dart to the side as they run over to my dead prey. One of them takes an object and it lights up. I don't like the light. I hide deeper in the shadows, grateful that the room is so huge.

"Beast!" cried Rogue as she looked upon her dead friend."Mon dieu!" exclaimed Gambit. "She killed him!"I don't understand the words, but I know they grieve for the one I have slain. Another error my prey makes. They are not alert.

I decide that I will kill the one closest to the shadows, the one who had made noises first. I crawl up behind her. She doesn't notice. I shove my claws through her back, the tips puncturing through the stomach. My prey screams. I pull her into the shadows, remove my claws from her back, then slash her head off her shoulders. Blood spews from the neck as I engulf it. The head lands close to my other prey. He stares at it. I do not make my move yet.

Gambit touched his communicator and said quickly, "Anyone! She killed Beast and Rogue!""Gambit!" came the reply from his communicator. The voice was Cyclops'. "Gambit! Where are you?"

I come closer and stare at my prey. I go halfway into the light. When he sees me, he does nothing."I'm in-" His voice is cut off.I slice his throat open. I do not like the noises he makes. He puts his hands to his throat and makes noises that I find more pleasant. I go totally into the light and I see the terror in his eyes. I take two claws and puncture his eyes. I remove my claws and my prey falls, dead. I am pleased.I leave the room and head towards the closest sounds. I go lower in this place and find three more of my prey in a room."Gambit? Gambit!" Cyclops screamed into his communicator.

Professor Xavier put a comforting hand on Cyclops' arm. "I don't sense him anymore Cyclops. He's dead."Jean cried softly as she thought about her lost friends. Scott hugged her.

"I promise, no one else is going to get hurt." he whispered into her ear.

I look at them in the doorway. They do not see me. I am perplexed because one is in some thing. I notice that he can't maneuver as well as if he were standing. He will be the last of these three. I will take the strongest first. I must lead him away from the others.I run into the room they are in, show myself in the light, then run out. I expect my prey to follow. He does. I lead him into the hall. I have slashed the walls so that there will be no light. I crouch in the hall and watch as my prey comes closer. I know that he does not see me. I am about to strike, when a red beam comes from his eyes and hits the wall near my location. I am startled. I did not expect this. Immediately, I know I must make sure not to be hit by this beam as I notice the wall has been destroyed where the beam had hit. I have not moved. I do not want to give my position away. I understand that my prey seems to have been reassured by the beam and approaches more confidently. He passes me and doesn't know it. Again, I prepare to strike, but a noise comes from down the hall.

"Cyclops?" called Jean.

Cyclops turned around to see his wife standing in the hallway. "I don't think she's here."

"Well, let's check the other floor." said Jean.

Cyclops walked towards his wife.

I see him coming back my way and wonder if he sees me. But then, I notice that he does not look at me and figure he's oblivious. Even though my other prey is nearby, I decide to attack. Just as my prey is about to pass me, I leap out and slash his belly, spilling his intestines.

"Cyclops!" bellowed Jean as she saw her emerge from the darkness and attack her husband. Cyclops didn't even have time to react. He clutched his stomach as his guts were exposed.

I then poke a claw into his temples and his chest, killing him. I revel in this.

I whirl around and see my other prey. She stares at the dead one. Now is the time. I rush up to her and kill her instantly by slashing her open, head to groin.

I turn and see the third one. He does not see me.

"Jean?" said Professor Xavier. He had just heard her yell out Cyclops' name. There was now only silence. He didn't need to be a telepath to know that she was dead. He also knew that he couldn't stop her alone. He needed help. Professor Xavier pressed a few buttons on his chair to contact Storm. "Storm. Are you there?"

"Yes, Professor." answered Storm on her communicator.

"Cyclops, Jean, Rogue, Beast and Gambit... are dead." informed the Professor.

There was a hushed silence.

"Storm?" asked the Professor.

"Yes, Professor." The reply was like a whisper.

"I am heading to your location. Meet me in the War-"I do not like the noises that my prey is making. I will have to do something about it. I quietly approach my prey. In a swift motion, I stick my claws through the top of his head, piercing the skull. When I remove my claws, I see a pink substance on them. I taste it. It is squishy, but enjoyable."Professor? Professor!" yelled Storm. "Professor! Answer please."Wolverine put a hand on her shoulder. "He's gone.""What? What do you mean 'gone'?" said Jubilee, who was now almost delirious from finding out that everyone was dead but them.

"Logan is right." remarked a sorrowful Storm. "We are the only ones left. We have to stop her. No matter what."

I hunt the last three. They are lower in this place. That is where I go.

I approach them silently, for the powerful one is with them. I know where they are, but I do not like the place. I need room. I need darkness. I need to draw them out into the night. There, the powerful one will not catch my scent because of the wind.

I am just outside the room they are in. I know the powerful one will pick up my scent, but I still stand in the dark doorway to make sure I catch his attention.

Wolverine's sensitive nose picked up her scent extremely fast. Just as he was about to tell Storm and Jubilee, he looked at the doorway and saw her eyes. They were yellow, just like a cat. Then, they disappeared as she ran off. Wolverine followed saying to Storm, "Come on."

The three remaining X-Men ran after the girl. They followed her all the way outside. She had disappeared into the woods.

I sit in the tree and wait. I am fully aware that the powerful one cannot see me, nor smell me. I make sure not to make any noise, for he will hear me.

"Stay close." stated Wolverine as he cautiously entered the forest, searching for her. *SCHLIKT* was the noise as he unsheathed his adamantium claws.

Storm and Jubilee closely followed Wolverine.

I decide that the smaller one will be first. She is not as close to the powerful one. I jump down from the tree and dash ahead at incredible speed. A speed, which I know the powerful one, cannot match. I leave a scent trail, which he pursues.

I double back and notice that the smaller one is lagging behind. Now is the moment to take her.

Coming up behind her, I stick my claws through her throat and hoist the head off her shoulders. She makes no noise, but I know that the powerful senses that she's dead.

"Jubilee?" Storm turned around to see where the teenager had gone. She walked back to where Jubilee had last been and nearly threw up when she saw Jubilee's decapitated body.

As the other comes closer to my fallen prey, my hand reaches out and I decapitate her.

Only the powerful one is left and he knows it.

I let him catch my scent. He comes closer. I see the claws he has and know they are as strong and as lethal as mine. I hide in the bushes.

As he sees my other prey, he lets out a growl. Then, a cry of rage. I notice he is momentarily distracted. I pick up both severed heads and throw them at him. He catches the head of the smaller one. I know he grieves. I strike.

I jump and crash into him. The end result is he ends up on his back with me on top of him, just waiting to kill him. He knows the hunt is over.

I am about to slay him, when I look into his eyes. I see a reflection of the same animosity and rage that is within me. He understands.

I kill him, by slashing his face and sticking my claws into his abdomen again and again. When it is done, I sit there on top of my dead prey and taste his blood. I am finished. The hunt is over. I have killed, one of my own kind.

Suddenly, I am compelled to turn my head. I look to the left. I sense a presence. I am not alone...

Claudia awoke with a start from her dream. _I killed them_, she thought. _I killed them all! Each and everyone of them... And what's worse, I reveled in it! It felt like the most awesome thing in the world. In the universe! Was it a nightmare? No. I'm not and wasn't afraid, at all. Then, why do I feel... disturbed? Maybe it was because of the end of the dream... I knew I wasn't alone... but... who was there? Who was with me, watching as I killed the last three X-Men? Even though I didn't see the person, I could tell that they were... pleased?_

Claudia noticed that the time was 7 o'clock am. There was no sunshine as Claudia looked out the window and saw that it was raining. She smiled slightly for the weather suited her mood.

Claudia got out of her bed and headed to the bathroom. She looked at herself in the slashed mirror. _What am I going to do about this cut?_, Claudia asked herself. _I just can't keep on a wearing a hood all the time. I think that people are going to become suspicious. Like, Beast isn't already... What am I going to do about that?_

"I need to find a solution to my problem." she said out loud as she undressed herself. Claudia stepped into the shower and turned on the water. Claudia soaped up her body. As the water poured upon her, she felt extremely warm and comfortable. After a few minutes, Claudia turned off the water and exited the shower, wet. She quickly toweled herself and walked into her sleeping room.

Claudia sat down in front of a mirror and looked at her reflection. She removed black underwear from a drawer and slipped it on. Next, she put her shoulder-length hair in a ponytail and put on a black sports bra.

_How am I going to hide this cut from them? I need something that will hide my cut, but won't draw attention. I need a disguise... Yes! That's it! A disguise! That is exactly what I need! All of the X-Men where costumes, why shouldn't I? What a brilliant idea! So, what is my costume going to look like? Well, it has to have a mask. I guess I'll design it some other time. I need to get ready._

Claudia put on a pair of black jean shorts and another black T-shirt with a hood. I better get this costume quickly, before there are questions about my constantly wearing hoods.

She put on black socks and her Nike shoes and left her room. Being so preoccupied with coming up with a suitable costume, Claudia walked out of the room without putting on her hood. She walked down the hall. Passing a mirror, Claudia noticed that she had forgotten to put on her hood. She was about to, when she saw Wolverine exit one of the rooms down the hall. She stared at him as she recalled his fighting yesterday. He walked over to her.

Realizing that her wound wasn't covered, Claudia put the hood over her head, just as Wolverine came up next to her. She turned her face away from him as he spoke. "Why do you cover your face?"

"Because." replied Claudia.

"That's not an answer." stated Wolverine.

Claudia turned her head sharply and looked straight at Wolverine. As she stared into his eyes, she remembered her dream and how she had seen the same animosity and rage within Wolverine. Claudia gave a sigh. It was a sorrowful sigh. "I know… I'm sorry." she answered softly, almost like a whisper. She turned around and walked away from the shorter man.

"In order for you to become an X-Man, Claudia, you must understand what it means to cooperate and work as a team." stated Professor Xavier in the control room of the Danger Room.

Jubilee and Claudia were in the Danger Room, waiting for the simulation to start as Professor Xavier dictated to Claudia.

"That is why from now on, you and Jubilee shall be training together." said the Professor. Am I ready to fight with an X-Man?, Claudia asked herself. I mean, for goodness sakes, this is only my third day here! "From your performance yesterday, I have ascertained that you are ready to combat with Jubilee. Both of you now, are at the same level."

As the simulation started, Jubilee quickly said, "We gotta watch each other's backs, all right?"

Claudia gave a thumb's-up. "Right." She removed her hood.

The teenagers stood back to back as their opponents appeared. There were six. Their adversaries soon surrounded the adolescents.

"Hey, you seen Power Rangers: The Movie?" asked Jubilee. Claudia nodded quickly. Dana had forced her to watch it. It had been two of the most excruciating hours of her entire life. Their opponents enclosed them. Jubilee pointed to the adversary in front of her. "The middle ones, 'up and over'?"

Claudia smiled. "Let's do it."

The two teenagers ran away from each other and towards the opponents in front of them. They both did a flip over the adversaries.

"Get the ones on the side." ordered Jubilee.

"Don't have to ask me twice." replied Claudia.

They both fired upon the two opponents, destroying them.

Four down, two to go, thought Claudia.

"Watch out!" exclaimed Jubilee. Before she had time to react, the antagonist she had just flipped over blasted Claudia. She went flying and landed on her back. The wind was knocked out of her. It took a couple of seconds for her to regain her breath. Claudia quickly flipped up to her feet. She glanced at Jubilee who was dodging the shots that her opponent was firing at her.

Claudia's adversary fired at her feet. Claudia did the jumping splits, to avoid being hit by the blast. She landed gracefully on her feet and fired an electrical burst at the opponent. Her foe dodged the shot, but it hit the antagonist that was attacking Jubilee.

"Thanks." said Jubilee as Claudia did a walk-over to dodge another blast by her opponent.

The teenagers were now on both sides of the last remaining antagonist. They both ducked as their opponent fired upon both of them.

" 'Member from Power Ranger's," began Jubilee, " 'Double whammy'?"

"You're on." responded Claudia.

Both teenagers used their mutant powers and fired upon their adversary, completely demolishing the problem.

"Gotta love it!" exclaimed Jubilee as she gave Claudia a high five.

Claudia was about to congratulate Jubilee about their victory, when she noticed something coming towards them. It was a ball of fire. Claudia grabbed Jubilee and pulled her down to the floor as the ball of fire flew right over them.

"Whoa!" exclaimed Claudia in utter surprise. "What was that?"

"An obstacle." replied Jubilee. "We gotta overcome them."

"What do you-" Claudia's voice was cut off as she jumped out of the way of a spray of arrows that had been directed at them. She noticed with relief that Jubilee had gotten out of the way in time, as well.

Claudia looked at the area from where the spray of arrows had originated. Without a second thought, she took out the arrow shooter with her powers.

Next, Claudia barely had time to react as another ball of fire came towards her. She did a roundhouse to dodge the flames. A gun aimed at her and she did back walkovers to avoid getting hit by the laser beams.

"Claudia!" exclaimed Jubilee. Claudia turned around and saw that Jubilee was caught in some sort of sticky substance. But that was not the problem. The problem, Claudia soon noticed, was that another spray of arrows were being directed towards Jubilee. _I have to help her_, thought Claudia. _I've got to think of something quick!_

Claudia looked around the Danger Room in a panic. She knew that if she was too late, Jubilee might be hurt, or even worse... killed. Claudia knew that she couldn't destroy each arrow individually. It would take too much time. _Not enough time_, she thought.

As the arrows were shot and going towards Jubilee, Claudia, in a moment of desperation, thought about totally destroying all of arrows and created a huge ball of electrical energy in her hands. She fired the huge ball and completely destroyed all of the arrows.

All of sudden, Claudia felt a little lightheaded. Her world went dark for a moment as she swayed and fell to her knees, dizzy.

Jubilee used her plasma blasts and got herself out of the gummy substance. She ran over to Claudia just as the doors to the Danger Room opened. Jubilee put Claudia's hood back over her head.

Claudia stood up and rubbed her head lightly.

"Congratulations, Claudia." said Professor Xavier as he entered the Danger Room. "You have reached a new stage in your powers."

"Huh?" was Claudia's remark. She could hardly remember what had just happened. "What are you talking about?"

"That was so cool!" exclaimed Jubilee. "I didn't know you knew how to do that."

"Do what?" asked Claudia, confused.

Jubilee laughed. "Quit kidding around." she joked.

"No... seriously: what are you talking about?" questioned Claudia.

"You don't... remember." stated the Professor.

"Remember what?" said Claudia. Jubilee and Professor Xavier looked at each other.

"What is the last thing that you recall?" asked the Professor.

Claudia thought about it. "I remember Jubilee being stuck in some substance and arrows flying straight at her. I knew that I couldn't destroy all of them, individually, but I needed to find a way to stop them. Then... I don't know... I suppose that lost consciousness. When I came to, I was feeling dizzy and I was on my knees and you, Professor, were telling me that I've reached a new stage in my powers. Could someone please tell me what I've missed?"

"You created a massive ball of electrical energy to destroy the threat." explained Professor Xavier.

"I did? How come I don't remember that. I think I would remember that." said a perplexed Claudia.

"Trust me Claudia," said Jubilee, "you were wicked! Just like in all those superhero movies."

"What concerns me the most is that you do not remember." stated Professor Xavier.

"I'm sure it was nothing." reassured Claudia quickly. _The last time that I became unconscious and woke up disoriented was when I had disappeared. But, I was out for a lot longer when I disappeared. Then again, I don't think losing consciousness had anything to do with my mutant powers, then. It's a good thing that the Professor can't read my thoughts, or he'd ask questions that I'm not ready to answer._

"Perhaps you should go see Dr. McCoy." suggested Professor Xavier.

"No!" replied Claudia and Jubilee at the exact same time. The Professor seemed taken aback.

"Um... I don't think that... uh...well," stammered Claudia, "We don't think that's such a good idea."

"Why not?" questioned the Professor.

"Well, Dr. McCoy is probably very busy and I wouldn't want to disturb him." responded Claudia confidently.

"Besides, we also have to go to our classes." added Jubilee. She looked at Claudia. "That is, if you feel up to going to class."

"Yeah, I feel fine."

"Are you certain?" asked the Professor, concerned with Claudia's well being.

"Positive." replied Claudia.

"Then, you two may go and report to Cerebro." he declared.

Claudia and Jubilee exited the Danger Room leaving Professor Charles Xavier deep in thought. _There is something deeply wrong with that child._

Days passed as Claudia tried to figure out exactly how she had created the electrical bubble. Every time she attempted, she would always fail. She couldn't remember how she did it.

Claudia sat in the library and pondered upon her problem. _How did I accomplish it?_, she asked herself. _Isn't that the question I've been asking myself for days. This is so frustrating!_

She got up from the chair she was sitting on and paced. Realizing that it was doing her no good, she sat down again and started trying to make the ball of electrical energy. She put her hands in front of her and over her lap, the palms facing each other. She released her electrical energy through her fingertips. The energy crisscrossed and was shot towards the ground, leaving two burnt marks.

"Oops." remarked Claudia as she quickly vacated the area.

Claudia walked around the quiet mansion. The X-Men were away on some mission that she wasn't quite sure about. They had left before she had woken up and Jubilee had left her a note saying that she had gone to visit her foster parents. So Claudia had the whole mansion to herself. She had already done her educational courses with Cerebro so she wandered.

The teenager ended up in the rec. room. Noticing the time, Claudia plopped down on the couch, turned on the television and prepared to watch Sailor Moon. She didn't think that it was the best show, but found it entertaining at points and the entire story was quite imaginative.

As the episode came near to the end, Claudia saw Sailor Mars and Sailor Jupiter combine their powers to destroy the enemy's weapon. She also saw Sailor Mercury do her "Mercury Bubbles".

Claudia sat through the entire episode. When the episode was concluded, Claudia turned off the television.

_Now what am I going to do_, she asked herself. All of sudden, the phone rang.

Claudia walked over to the phone and picked up the receiver. "Hello?"

"The X-Men are hurt." came a breathy voice on the line. "You must help them or they will die."

"Who is this?" demanded Claudia.

"That doesn't matter." was the reply. "It is imperative that you come now, Claudia."

"How do you know my name?"

There was a click as the anonymous person hung up. Claudia replaced the receiver.

_The X-Men are hurt? Can this be true? What am I going to do? How do I know the person wasn't lying? I don't. But, maybe they were telling the truth. Okay, okay. I mustn't panic. Even if the person was telling the truth, I couldn't possibly take on someone or something that could injure all of the X-Men. I'll at least need some help. But everyone went on the mission except for me and... Jubilee!_

Claudia ran quickly to the kitchen to find Jubilee's foster parents' number. She picked up the phone and dialed. A woman picked up. "Hello?"

"Hi. May I please speak to Jubilee?"

"May I ask who is speaking?" asked the woman.

"Claudia." she responded.

"Nice to hear from you again Claudia, my dear." said the woman who was without a doubt Jubilee's foster mother. "I'll get Jubilee."

Claudia waited for Jubilee to get on the line.

"How's it going Claudia?"

"Bad." replied Claudia.

"What do ya mean?"

"I just got this anonymous phone call." responded Claudia. "The person said that the X-Men were hurt and that I had to go help them."

There was a pause of silence as Jubilee took the information in. "Did you try contacting them?"

"No. But I have a bad feeling about this."

"Okay, listen, I'll be there as soon as possible. In the meantime, you try contacting the X-Men."

"All right."

"Don't worry." comforted Jubilee. "I'm sure everything is fine."

"I'll see you then." replied Claudia. She hung up.

Claudia headed straight for the War Room. Once there, Claudia attempted to contact the X-Men. "Professor? Cyclops? Storm? Anybody?" There was no response. "Cerebro, why can we not make contact with the X-Men?"

"Contact cannot be attained because there is no response." responded Cerebro.

"Is there any disruption? Any interference?" questioned Claudia.

"No disruption. No interference."

"Any luck?" asked Jubilee as she entered the War Room.

"None." replied Claudia. "So, what are we going to do?"

"Since we can't reach the X-Men," said Jubilee, "we must assume that they can't respond. We have no choice but to go look for them."

"But, we don't even know where they are!"

"We'll ask Cerebro to track down the BlackBird."

"Even if Cerebro does find it, how are we going to get there?"

"We'll take a mini-jet."

"And who's going to fly it?"

Jubilee nodded. "I've done it before."

"But shouldn't we have some sort of adult supervision?" complained Claudia.

"From whom? If you hadn't noticed, all of the adults don't seem to be here."

"But couldn't we inform somebod-"

Jubilee cut her off. "Look, we can't spend our time arguing about this when the X-Men might be in danger. I'm going. Are you coming, or not?"

Claudia nodded. "Okay. Let's go."

The teenagers headed to the hangar. They both hopped into a mini-jet. Jubilee pressed a few buttons and was quickly able to locate the BlackBird.

As they left the mansion, Claudia gladly reflected upon how she hadn't eaten anything recently, for Jubilee's flying was anything but smooth.

"What's our ETA?" asked Claudia.

"Our what?"

"Estimated Time of Arrival." Jubilee gave Claudia a blank look. Claudia sighed. "How long until we get there?"

"Couple of minutes." informed Jubilee.

Claudia sighed again. "So, what are we going to do when we get there?"

"First, we're going to check out the BlackBird first. If we don't find anything, we go searching for them."

"What if we can't find the X-Men?" Claudia asked quietly.

"Let's hope that we never get to that situation."

Claudia looked out the window and saw the BlackBird below.

"We're here." said Jubilee as she lowered the mini-jet.

As soon as the jet touched the ground, both Jubilee and Claudia jumped out. They ran over to the BlackBird.

Jubilee and Claudia entered the BlackBird and scoured the interior.

"Nobody's here." remarked Claudia.

"Not even the Professor." said Jubilee. "That's weird. He's usually here, monitoring." She gave Claudia a look. "Something's very wrong."

"So, where are we going to look?" Claudia asked.

She sighed. "I don't know where we should look." said Jubilee. "Well, you think we should split up? Do you think that's a good idea?" 

"I don't know. You have all the experience." she replied earnestly. "Maybe we _should_ split up."

They exited the BlackBird. In front of them, there was a building with two doors.

"All right, you go that way." Jubilee pointed to the left door. "And I'll go this way." She pointed to the right door. Jubilee handed a communicator to Claudia. "If you hear or see anything, contact me immediately."

Claudia nodded. "Good luck."

"You too." responded Jubilee as she headed to the right door.

Claudia walked over to the left door. As she opened the door, she noticed that it was entirely dark in the building. She couldn't see a thing. _I think we can fix that_, she thought as she shut the door behind her. Claudia changed into her cat state. Her eyes could see increasingly better, her senses became heightened and her nails extended and became deadly claws.

Claudia walked in the darkness, listening for the slightest sound. _It's very quiet in here. A little too quiet. Even with my enhanced hearing I can't hear anything... Wait, what was that?_ Claudia tried to strain her hearing. _What is that? It's very faint. It sounds like... breathing?_

Claudia hurried through the room and found another door. Before Claudia opened the door, she pressed her communicator. "Jubilee, do you read me?" she whispered.

"Yeah." was the reply. "Talk to me, Claudia."

"I hear faint breathing. I think it's coming from the other side of this door, here. I'm going to investigate."

"Be careful."

"Right. Claudia out." Claudia turned off her communicator. She looked at the door with dismay as she noticed that the door was metal and that there was no way, that she could see, to get in. _This could be a problem_, she considered. _Well, I could use my mutant powers... but... then again, it would be a better opportunity to learn how to use my claws._

Claudia put her hand on the cold metal door. _Hmm, I wonder how thick this door is. I guess I'm about to find out._ It took Claudia mere seconds to completely destroy the door. _I didn't realize how strong my claws or I were_!

Claudia stepped through the opening that she had made in the door and entered the room. It was dark. Claudia, although, could see rather well. What she saw were the X-Men.

All of the X-Men were lying on individual beds. Each of them appeared to be unconscious. Claudia rushed over to closest one, which was Wolverine. She noticed that he was breathing, which reassured her that he was alive. Then, she noticed all the equipment above him. _What is going on here?_, Claudia asked herself. _What is with all this equipment?_ Then, an idea popped into her head. I wonder, if I destroyed this stuff, maybe Wolverine would regain consciousness? It would certainly take Jubilee and I some time to carry all of the X-Men back to the BlackBird. It would help if they were conscious.

Using her mutant powers, Claudia destroyed the equipment that surrounded Wolverine. She looked down at him, hoping that she hadn't made the situation worse. To her relief, she saw him open his eyes. Then, he sniffed the air. In an instant, he jumped off the bed and unsheathed his claws.

"Who or what are you?" he asked.

_I forgot that I'm still in my cat state_, thought Claudia. She willed herself and changed back to her human state. _Boy is it good that he can't see well in the dark, like I can._ "Don't tell me you've forgotten who I am already?"

"Claudia?" he asked uncertainly as he sniffed the air again.

She walked over to the wall and looked for a light switch. The room became illuminated as the lights turned on. Claudia had to cover her eyes from the sudden change from dark to light. Once her eyes became accustomed to the light, she focused on Wolverine, who now looked at her.

"Funny." he remarked. "I thought I smelled something."

Claudia nodded. "Quickly, we've got to help the other X-Men."

Wolverine immediately started destroying the equipment surrounding Jean, while Claudia focused upon helping Storm. In minutes, all of the X-Men were free of the tackle, but none of them had regained consciousness. _I don't like this_, thought Claudia. _They should've regained consciousness._ She tapped her communicator. "Jubilee, I found the X-Men, but none of them have regained consciousness except for Wolverine."

"That's because he's got that healing factor I told you about." came the voice from the communicator.

"The rest of the X-Men should come around." stated Wolverine.

"Will you come give us a hand as we haul the rest of them back to the BlackBird?" asked Claudia.

"I would if I could." replied Jubilee. "But, I'm kinda lost."

Wolverine and Claudia sighed at the same time.

"I'll go get her." they both said at the same time. Claudia and Wolverine looked at each other.

"You need to gather your strength." stated Claudia. "I'll find Jubilee and we'll give you a hand with the rest of the X-Men."

Wolverine merely nodded.

As Claudia left the room, she heard Wolverine say to Jubilee, "Don't go anywhere, darlin'."

"Relax Wolvie." said Jubilee. _Wolvie?_, Claudia asked herself. _Now that's a new one. You learn something new every day._

Claudia walked through the dark room that she had first entered into and exited the building. She turned to her left and entered the door, which Jubilee had entered.

Immediately as she entered, she noticed that this part of the building was illuminated much better than the other. As she walked through the room she was now in, she noticed all the things that were around her. There was a lot of machinery and boxes. There was something familiar to her about her surroundings.

Claudia entered a hallway and noticed that it branched off in two directions. She changed to her cat state to smell in which direction Jubilee had gone. She was about to proceed when her acute hearing heard voices:

"She's in the building." came one voice.

"What do you mean she's in the building?" came another voice. To Claudia, the second voice sounded more in authority than the first. "She wasn't supposed to be here so soon."

"I'm sorry." apologized the first voice, which sounded afraid. "I don't know how this could've happened."

"Did you at least dispose of the X-Men?" asked the second voice.

"N-no sir." The voice trembled. Then they added, "There wasn't enough time. We didn't expect her so soon. We didn't even have time to get the tissue samples."

"You and your stupid tests!" roared the second voice. Then, there was the sound of flesh hitting flesh. There was a smile cry of pain. Claudia figured that the second voice had slapped the first. "If it weren't for them, the X-Men would no longer be a problem and we would have her!" Then it sounded like the second voice took a deep breath. "What part of the building is she in?"

There was moment of silence. "Well?" demanded the second voice.

"It was last reported that she entered the door leading to the holding cells."

"What!?" vociferated the second voice. "You idiot! You mean she's in the room with the X-Men?!? And by now, she's most probably freed them. We've got to get out of here. Come on."

All that could be heard now, was the sound of retreating footsteps. Claudia contemplated whether to follow, but decided against it. She headed in the direction that Jubilee's scent had gone.

In a few minutes, she found Jubilee.

"What took you so long?" joked Jubilee.

The teenagers headed out of the building with Claudia guiding the way. They entered the other building where the X-Men were.

Claudia walked over to the Professor and looked down at him. She took his hand and looked at Wolverine. "Do you think that he'll be all right?"

Wolverine didn't seem to hear her. He was staring, with precaution, at the door.

"Wolverine?" asked Claudia. He turned around and stared at her.

"How did you get in?" he questioned. "This door is made of steel."

"I... uh..." she stuttered. _He wouldn't need to be a telepath to know that I was lying if I said I used my mutant powers._

Wolverine gave her a wary look.

Claudia felt something clasp her hand. She looked down and noticed that Professor Xavier's hand had a tight grip upon her own. His eyes fluttered and then opened.

"Oh, Professor." whispered Claudia as she helped him sit up. "Are you all right?"

"I feel... fine." responded Professor Xavier. "Thank you Claudia."

She nodded and let go of his hand as Wolverine picked him up and brought him to the BlackBird. The rest of the X-Men began to regain consciousness. Jubilee, Claudia and Wolverine acted as supports and helped all of the X-Men back to BlackBird.

Claudia sat in the foyer of the X-Mansion and thought about the events that had transpired that day. _I thought that today was going to be a normal day! I'm just glad that Jubilee and I got there in time. I hate to think what would've happened had I not got that phone call... who was that anonymous person, anyway? When I tried to trace the call, the operator said it was from a pay phone, conveniently, extremely near to the building where we found the X-Men. And what about those voices that I had heard? Should I tell the other X-Men? I don't know. Did I do the right thing by not telling them? Maybe I should tell somebody. But, who can I trust?_

As if in answer to her question, Jubilee walked into the foyer. "How's it going Claudia?"

"Just the person I was thinking about." said Claudia. She patted the seat next to her on the couch she was sitting on. "Come, sit."

Jubilee sat down next to Claudia.

"So how is everyone?" questioned Claudia. She spoke of the condition of the X-Men. On the trip back to the mansion, they hadn't completely recovered, unlike Wolverine.

"They're okay." responded Jubilee. "They just need to rest and recover."

"And Wolverine? What happened to him?"

Jubilee considered. "He left."

Claudia nodded. After only a few days of living with the X-Men, Claudia had gotten used to finding out Wolverine left the mansion whenever he wanted to and usually didn't tell anybody where he was going or when he'd be back. "If I tell you something, do you promise not to tell anyone? Not a soul?"

"I didn't tell anyone about your transformation." stated Jubilee. "I promise that I won't tell anybody."

Claudia nodded again, certain that she could trust Jubilee. She cleared her throat. "Before I found you this evening, I had heard some voices going off in the opposite direction that you were."

"Voices? What did they say?"

Claudia hesitated before responding. "They said, 'She's in the building.'."

"She? She, who?"

Claudia continued. "Then a second voice protested about her being here so early and asked if the first voice had disposed of the X-Men. The first voice answered 'no'. Then I heard something that sounded like a slap and the first person cried out in pain. Then the second voice said they had to leave and they left."

"But who is this person they kept on talking about?"

Claudia didn't respond. Her silence spoke volumes.

"You can't be certain that they were talking about-"

Claudia cut her off. "Of course they were talking about me!"

"But, how do you-"

"I just know." responded Claudia quietly. Her answer was almost a whisper.

The two teenagers sat in an uncomfortable silence.

"You are going to tell the Professor, aren't you?" asked Jubilee.

Claudia shook her head.

"But you have to!" declared Jubilee. Claudia looked at her. "You can't keep on having these secrets! The X-Men are a family and when you're part of a family, you don't hide things!"

Claudia stood up and looked down at Jubilee sitting on the couch. "Well maybe I'm not fit for this family!" she argued. "The only reason I told you is because I knew I had to tell someone. I wasn't expecting a lecture! Not from you!"

"Look, I'm just saying, the X-Men are going to become suspicious." replied Jubilee in a calmer voice. "You will at least tell them about the phone call, won't you?"

Claudia sat down and nodded in answer to Jubilee's question. "I'm sorry." she stated. "I didn't mean to become so upset."

"It's okay." said Jubilee as she put a comforting hand on Claudia's shoulder.

"Thanks."

"So, let's change the subject, huh?" suggested Jubilee with a smile.

"Good idea."

"Hey, did you watch Sailor Moon today?"

"Indeed I did." responded Claudia with a snicker. "The episode was 'Bad Hair Day'."

Claudia thought back to the episode of Sailor Moon that she had watched. She remembered Sailor Mercury doing her "Mercury Bubbles" and Sailor Mars and Sailor Jupiter combining their powers.

Then, it was like something clicked inside of her and the puzzle was completed.

"I can't believe I didn't think of it before!" she exclaimed.

"What?" asked Jubilee, confused.

"Come on." Claudia stood up, grabbed Jubilee's hand and pulled her.

"Where are we going?"

"The Danger Room."

The adolescents headed to the Danger Room. Once there, Jubilee said, "We can't run a simulation without someone supervising."

"We're not going to run a simulation." stated Claudia. "I'm going to show you something."

They stepped into the Danger Room and the massive doors closed behind them.

"So, what are you going to show me?" questioned Jubilee.

"Watch."

Claudia put her hands in front of her, slightly above her hips. The palms were facing each other. She closed her eyes. _Now focus!_, thought Claudia. _Think of the electricity as being one with you. Don't think of it as being separate. We are one. Don't let it go. Let it build on the inside and out. Let it come out of my palms. Let it build and shape, forming a sphere! We are one. We are one!_

Jubilee gasped in astonishment as she saw the ball of electricity grow in Claudia's hands. Claudia opened her eyes to see a bewildered Jubilee.

"Is this what the ball of electrical energy I created before, looked like?" asked Claudia.

Jubilee nodded. "But, how did you do it?"

Claudia considered her response. "As strange as it may seem, after watching Sailor Moon it just suddenly came to me. I remembered the way Sailor Mercury did her 'Mercury Bubbles'. I then realized that when I tried making the bubble, I would always try with my fingertips, 'cause that's the way I only knew how to use my powers."

Jubilee nodded again

"I all of sudden understood that my powers were one with me. If I wanted to create the ball, I would have to build up the power within me and outside of me. Not just letting it pass through and out of my body."

Claudia paused.

"You know, I also got to thinking about something else." said Claudia. "With this electrical bubble, couldn't we combine our powers?"

"What do you mean?" asked a curious Jubilee.

"I mean, when I create an electrical ball, its destructive force is pretty powerful and if I wanted it to be more powerful, I would have to put a lot of energy into it. But, what if instead of me putting in extra energy, you put it in?"

"Me?"

"Yeah. It's like making the 'double whammy' into one awesome onslaught."

"But, would it work?"

"Let's find out."

Claudia walked over to Jubilee, the ball of electricity still between her palms. She stood next to her.

"You realize, you don't have to do this." stated Claudia. "We're taking a huge risk. We could always try another time."

" 'No time like the present'." quoted Jubilee as she put her hands in front of the bubble.

"Make sure the blast isn't too powerful." cautioned Claudia. In her mind, Claudia imagined a small hole on the surface of the sphere. A small hole appeared. "I'm going to try and keep your powers inside the bubble."

"Here goes nothing." remarked Jubilee as she released her pyrokinetics from her fingertips and straight at the hole and into the ball of electrical energy.

Claudia could feel the ball becoming unstable. _Focus!_, she told herself. _I can't lose control! If I do, Jubilee and I may be seriously injured._

"Stop!" ordered Claudia to Jubilee. Jubilee ceased firing her plasma blasts as Claudia closed the hole with her mind. Claudia looked upon the ball in wonderment. Inside the bubble was an array of colors. It was one of most beautiful things she had ever seen!_ Beautiful and dangerous_, thought Claudia. _Two deadly combinations._

"It worked!" exclaimed Jubilee.

"But, I can't keep it here forever. I have to get rid of it." said Claudia. "Were your powers not inside, I would just absorb the energy."

"What are you going to do with it?"

"Quickly, run up to the control room and run the lowest program. Select one opponent." commanded Claudia. "And we'll see just how destructive this 'Double Whammy' is!"

"Right." said Jubilee. She exited the Danger Room and ran to the control room. Once there, she commenced the simulation and selected one adversary. The simulation began.

Claudia saw the figure coming towards her. Before she had time to actually see what the person looked like, she fired the bubble. It hit the opponent right in the chest. She thought that her antagonist would just be obliterated, like all the other ones and that she had overkilled it. But, to her amazement, her opponent was completely vaporized! Not one piece remained!

Claudia's jaw still hung open as Jubilee entered the Danger Room.

"Did you see that?" asked Claudia.

"Had I not, I wouldn't have believed it!" said Jubilee with excitement. "Imagine what we could've done had you made a bigger bubble, and I had put in more of my powers! Think of the power we would have!"

"Please don't tell me that you're becoming power crazy?" asked Claudia with a giggle. "Remember: 'with great power, comes great responsibility'."

"Oh please! Spare me the lecture." remarked Jubilee. "So, let's go see how the X-Men are doing."

"All right." stated Claudia as they exited the Danger Room.

A strong bond developed between Jubilee and Claudia. In a matter of a few weeks, they became inseparable. Each thought that the other was like the twin sister neither ever had.

One morning, Claudia and Jubilee were sitting in the rec. room talking about Jubilee and the X-Men's adventures into danger. It had been three weeks since Claudia had first come to Professor Xavier's School For The Gifted.

"So, you fought this other mutant team named X-Factor?" asked Claudia.

"Yeah." responded Jubilee enthusiastically. "There was this other guy with us, too. His name was Iceman. He was seriously cute."

Claudia smiled. After three weeks, she had finally come to the understanding that all of Jubilee's tales of adventure were true. She had asked Professor Xavier and had been astonished to find out about all the interesting things one does as an X-Man.

"He was, like totally cool!" exclaimed Jubilee.

"Wow!" stated Claudia. "You guys have done all sorts of awesome stuff and I've been here for three weeks and nothing exciting has happened!"

"Well, what about that time when we went looking for the X-Men?" commented Jubilee, who was trying to cheer her friend up. "That was, like your first mission."

"Spare me! That wasn't a mission! That was a go-in-and-find-people sort of thing. I just wish that I could go on a real mission."

"You'll go when Chuck feels that you're ready." stated a voice.

Claudia turned her head to see Wolverine leaning on the wall, in the doorway_. Are we ever going to get along?_, thought Claudia. _I've been here for three weeks and he's never even once said anything nice to me. At least, everyone else seems to act pleasant around me. Well, I shouldn't dwell on it. If he wants to be a jerk, that's not my problem. I guess it'll always be like this._

"The Professor wants to see both of you in the Danger Room." ordered the man also known as Logan.

Jubilee and Claudia stood up and exited the rec. room. Wolverine followed.

As soon as they got to the Danger Room, Claudia was surprised to see that all of the other X-Men were there as well. The other X-Men included Beast, Gambit, Rogue, Storm and Jean. _Hey, what's going on?_, Claudia asked herself. _Why is everybody here?_

The doors to the Danger Room opened. Claudia was about to follow everybody else in, when an arm grabbed hers. She turned around to see Cyclops with a grip upon her arm.

"The Professor would like to speak to you." informed the leader of the X-Men as he let go of her arm.

Claudia followed Scott (code name: Cyclops) up to the control room of the Danger Room. Once there, Claudia saw Professor Xavier in his floating chair.

"Claudia, you are here." stated the Professor. "Today you are going to be partaking in a simulation with the other X-Men."

"Y-y-yes sir." was all that Claudia was able to say.

There was an awkward silence. Claudia stood frozen as the words sunk in.

"You may go Claudia. The X-Men are waiting." said Cyclops behind her.

His voice woke her from her reverie and Claudia headed down to the Danger Room.

On her way, Claudia thought about what the Professor had just explained to her. _Me in a simulation with the X-Men?_, she asked herself. _I can't believe that I'm going to be doing a simulation with everyone else! I didn't think that I was ready for this sort of thing!_

Claudia stood in front of the tremendous doors to the Danger Room and wondered if she could perform well in a simulation with the other X-Men, who were obviously extremely better trained than her. She had complained to Jubilee about how she wanted to go on a real mission. This simulation would most probably determine how ready she really was.

Claudia felt like there were butterflies in her stomach. She nearly jumped of fright when a hand was placed upon her shoulder. Claudia turned around to see Cyclops looking down at her through his visor. She noticed that he was in his uniform.

Cyclops looked down at the teenager and noticed the anxiety in her eyes.

"It's going to be all right." stated Cyclops.

"But, I don't know if I'm ready for this." confided Claudia. This was one of the few times that she had ever confided her true feelings to an adult. She felt a certain kinship with the residents of Xavier's School For The Gifted (all except for Wolverine). There was something about all of them (except Wolverine) that Claudia could connect with. It could be considered a momentous occasion for Claudia to ever reveal even a minute part of her true feelings. The only other people that she ever confided in had been Jubilee and Dana. Never had she even told her parents anything about her true feelings.

"You're going to do just fine." reassured Cyclops. "The Professor wouldn't ask you to partake in a simulation with everyone else, if he didn't think you were ready."

"Thanks." replied Claudia as she smiled at the field commander of the X-Men who smiled back.

Claudia took a deep breath as the doors to the Danger Room opened and she stepped in. As soon as she had entered, Claudia walked over to Jubilee.

"Hey." she whispered to her friend.

"Hey." Jubilee whispered back. There were some noises as the simulation commenced. "Good luck."

In the beginning, Claudia was doing fine. She fought along side Jubilee and they defeated their opponents without any incident. But, as the simulation became harder, Claudia and Jubilee became separated and Claudia found herself next to Beast.

Throughout her three weeks, Claudia had only been wearing hoods whenever any of the X-Men aside from Jubilee, were around. Whenever she was in a Danger Room simulation, she would remove the hood to see better.

Beast became distracted as he looked upon Claudia and noticed her lacerated face. He had doubted himself about the cut, but there it was, for all to see. Before Beast could get a good look at the cut to see if it was infected, he was assaulted from behind by an antagonist from the simulation.

Claudia had noticed that Beast had been staring at her cut. But, right now, she didn't care. All she cared about was proving herself to the Professor and everyone else on the X-Men. She wanted to prove that she was ready to go on a real mission. She would worry about Beast later.

Jubilee fired her plasma bursts at her opponent's weapon. Before the opponent had enough time to recover, Wolverine attacked it from behind.

Jubilee was about to thank Wolverine when she felt a burst of determination and purpose. She wondered why she would be so determined.

Jubilee staggered a bit from the sudden burst, quickly gathered her thoughts and concentrated on the situation at hand.

Claudia did a back flip as she dodged a shot fired from her opponent. _Whoa! That was close!_, she thought. _This simulation is getting harder! I don't know how much longer I can hold out._

During this entire simulation, it had never occurred to Claudia to ask anybody for help. She felt that she had to prove to everyone that she could do everything by herself and that she didn't need anybody. A mistake, this was. A huge mistake.

Claudia could feel something building up inside of her. As the simulation got harder, it became more and more difficult for her to stop her opponents and she began to feel helpless and powerless. Pretty soon, Claudia had six opponents against her. She was trying to use her powers against her antagonists, but every time she tried to charge up to deliver a more powerful blast, she would get assaulted from behind.

Eventually, all six of her opponents were upon her. They were all firing at her and Claudia could feel inside of her the something that was building. She could feel it on the brink of breaking.

_Whoa, what the heck is that?_, Jubilee asked herself as she jumped out of the way of a huge ax that had come down to chop her. _It's like there's something building inside of me, but not inside of me? What is that pain? I'm not hurt am I?_ Jubilee checked herself. _It's like the pain is mine, but not mine? What's wrong with me?_

One of the opponents hit Claudia in the back and she went sprawling to the floor.

Jubilee felt an acute pain in her back, but it didn't feel real to her. She turned her head and her eyes wandered around the spectacle of the X-Men warding off their opponents. Jubilee's eyes fixed upon Claudia who was on ground, clutching at her back. _It can't be!_, thought Jubilee as she stared at her new friend. _But how?_

Claudia all of a sudden felt completely confused. _What the-? Why do I feel confused? There's nothing confusing about this situation_, she thought grimly. Claudia viewed her opponents as they began to enclose upon her. They were coming closer and closer.

Jubilee could feel the fear and desperation. But what worried her the most was the something that was building inside of Claudia_. How do I know that there's something building inside of her?_, she asked herself. _How is it that I can feel her pain and her feelings?_

Jubilee started to run towards Claudia but before she could reach her, an opponent sprung up in front of her and she had to deal with it.

Claudia's opponents all simultaneously fired and she felt it break.

_It broke!_, thought Jubilee.

Jubilee fired at her opponent, destroyed it and turned to see Claudia. "Claudia?"

An inhuman scream escaped Claudia's lips. Her nails elongated and became vicious claws. Her eyes became yellow with black slits. Her canines elongated and her back arched slightly.

Without a second thought, Claudia spun and swiped at each of her opponents with her right hand. Each and every one of them fell to pieces as they were slashed through.

Once Claudia's opponents were defeated, she noticed that the simulation was over and that every one of the X-Men were staring at her. They knew. It was there for all to see.

Claudia had had a very nice life. Her parents had always been loving and caring. However, when she was young, she didn't have many friends. In pre-school, she had known people but no one that she could ever consider to be a friend. All of the other children thought that she was too serious. She never had been into fun when she was a child. Claudia preferred spending her time practicing her gymnastics, her piano, her violin, her skating or her ballet. It didn't appear that she needed friends, but deep inside, she yearned for companionship. Someone she could talk to, someone she could laugh and joke around with. It wasn't until kindergarten that she had met someone: Dana.

Dana was the complete opposite of Claudia. She had lots of friends, was easy going and was usually never serious. Amazingly enough, when the two had met, they hit it off immediately. Claudia was intrigued by Dana's lack of seriousness and Dana was intrigued by Claudia's seriousness. The two of them bonded.

Each of them helped the other. Claudia helped Dana to take things seriously and Dana helped Claudia to lighten up and to have fun.

Claudia eventually developed more and more friends, but she felt that if it weren't for Dana, she wouldn't have any friends at all. That was why she was horrified when she and Dana found out that she could change into a cat-like creature. When Dana had found out that Claudia was a mutant, Claudia hadn't thought that was so bad because mutants were now pretty common in the world. Maybe not very common in Canada, but everybody knew about them.

But when Dana found out that she had this particular ability, there had been an utterly horrified look upon Dana's face. Dana was faced with something that she could never have thought possible except in her nightmares. Claudia had sworn that she would make sure that no one would ever have that look that Dana had had. But she couldn't have known about this incident. The look that most of the X-Men had upon their faces were identical to the look that Dana had. For them, it wasn't just the fact of what she changed into, it was the fact that she **could** change into something that wasn't all human.

"No." she whispered. "Not again."

No one said a word. The silence was deadly.

"No." she said louder.

Jubilee could feel that something wasn't right. She could feel Claudia's feelings. _No! She's gonna-_

"**_NO!!!_**" screamed Jubilee and Claudia together. A huge mass of electrical energy exploded from Claudia. For a moment, all the electricity in the building went out.

Once the lights had come back on, Claudia noticed that the X-Men were still staring at her. Not one of them moved.

Claudia eyes focused upon her only friend, Jubilee. Claudia's eyes were pleading. Jubilee was the only one that didn't have a horrified look upon her face. There was some comfort for Claudia to look at her friend. But, then she looked at the other X-Men and that comfort was soon gone.

"Not again!" she cried. In a flash of electric light, Claudia blindly destroyed one of the four walls of the Danger Room and ran erratically through the mansion.

As Claudia reached an outside wall, she slashed frantically at the wall. In a matter of seconds, she had created a gap big enough for her to fit through.

As soon as she was outside the mansion, Claudia ran into the woods, a savage cry on her lips with every second step.

It took a few seconds for the X-Men to recover from the display. Cyclops was the first to say something.

"Quickly, we must find her before she gets too far." he ordered. "Rogue, Beast, Gambit, you three will-"

"No." interrupted Jubilee. "You will do no such thing."

Cyclops was startled. He was used to being disobeyed or even questioned by Wolverine or Gambit. But definitely not Jubilee.

All eyes were on Jubilee. Professor Xavier appeared as doors to the Danger Room opened, but he didn't say a word.

"Claudia is in a very erratic state of mind." stated Jubilee. _How do I know that?_, Jubilee asked herself. _How is it that I know how she's feeling? These words are not my own. It's as if someone were helping me. It's as if she was. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she wants our help and she's telling me. But how?_ "It would be unwise to send people to go look for her. In her present state, she might even be likely to kill someone and not even know it."

"All the more reason to go find her now." said Cyclops.

"No!" reinforced Jubilee. "If all of you went, you could provoke her. She is highly unstable. It is best if someone who knows what she's going through, attempt to bring her back."

"But who knows what she's going through?" asked Storm.

"I do." said a voice. The X-Men turned to see Wolverine as the speaker.

"Is this true?" the Professor asked Jubilee.

Jubilee nodded.

"But how-" commenced Cyclops.

"Everything will be explained once Wolverine brings back Claudia." said Professor Xavier.

Wolverine nodded. Before he left, Jubilee walked over to him and whispered. "She is not your enemy, nor your opponent. Do not underestimate her. But, you must hunt to find her. But once you do, make it into a game, make her think. Let her rely on reason, not her animal instinct. Beware, if you continue to hunt after you've found her, she will hunt you." Jubilee paused and she saw that Wolverine was going to say something. To him, this certainly did not sound like the Jubilee he knew. "Don't ask me how I know. I just know. One more thing. Never forget: she's gone through exactly the same thing that you have... Exactly the same. If you forget, then you won't understand. And if you don't comprehend, she will try to kill you... Even if you fight your best, she might win. If she wins, she'll be beyond hope. We'll have lost her... and you. But if you win, and you kill her..." Jubilee's voice trailed off. There was sorrow as Jubilee looked at Wolverine. "Just _please_ bring her back safe."

With those last words, Wolverine ran after Claudia's scent trail.

The night air was cool, but there was no breeze so Wolverine found it easy to track Claudia even though his vision wasn't the greatest at night. Running as quickly as it was possible for him, Wolverine reflected upon the past three weeks, since Claudia's arrival. The pieces all came together and the mystery was solved.

When Claudia had changed in the Danger Room, she had given off the same scent he had smelled on the first day she came to the Mansion and she had been spying on them. It had also been the same scent he had smelled when he had awoken when the X-Men had been taken prisoner. Now, Logan knew what Claudia was going to transform into on that day when they came back from that pseudo-fight with those mutant terrorists. And he could speculate why she had that laceration on her face, for the night that Cyclops and Storm went to go check on Claudia, Wolverine had picked up that same scent. The scent wasn't entirely human. Sort of like half human, half feline.

The question was, how did she get like that? It certainly wasn't a mutation because it had already been certified that doing stuff with electricity was her mutant power. Just the mere mention of what her mutant powers enabled her to do could make you think. Theoretically, with time, she could be one of the most powerful mutants on this planet. Maybe even more powerful than Magneto, the master of magnetism.

Wolverine pondered upon how he was going to bring Claudia back to the mansion in her present state and condition. _Since she is so close to the kid, wouldn't it have been better to have Jubilee go get her?_, Wolverine asked himself. Wolverine thought that he was definitely not right for the job considering the way he had acted towards Claudia these past few weeks. It wasn't that he hated her. He was actually kind of fond of the adolescent, but he trusted his senses and they had indicated to him that there was something wrong with her. Wolverine knew that the other X-Men could sense it too, but they just didn't say anything. Jubilee had been chewing him out for the past three weeks about why he was always being so cruel to Claudia. He had always answered her questions with "I got my reasons." and a shrug. It had hurt Jubilee for Wolverine not to explain himself, but he just didn't want to hurt her by revealing his feelings for his surrogate daughter's new best friend. Thinking about it, Wolverine realized that she had known the entire time about Claudia's "ability".

As Claudia's scent became more pungent, Wolverine slowed his approach. Stepping over a branch, he noticed that his foot had landed upon something soft that definitely was not grass. By moonlight, Wolverine kneeled down and looked upon the mystery. It was a black t-shirt with a hood and Claudia's scent was all over it. In the front there was a ragged slash mark.

Lifting his head, Logan noticed the rest of Claudia's clothes strewn on the ground. They were all slashed at one point. _Great!_, thought Logan sarcastically. _Not only has she lost it, but she's naked too!_

Standing up, Wolverine noticed that her scent trail didn't go off in any direction. It just stopped where he was. Lifting his head, Wolverine saw the silhouette of someone crouching in the branches above him. He didn't need to completely see her to know who she was.

As he stared up at her and pondered his next move, Wolverine noticed that her scent was more feline than human. Without provocation, Claudia, with extreme agility, jumped from the branch that she was perched upon and lunged at him with ferocity.

Wolverine quickly dodged out of the way of her attack and unsheathed his claws, preparing to attack. But, before he could attempt it, Claudia swiped at him with her own claws. Wolverine ducked and was astonished to see the deep claws marks that were left in the tree that was behind him. The marks were so deep that the tree was close to falling over.

She dived at him again and, as he dodged away by doing a somersault, crashed into the tree and knocking it over. There was a loud thud and it felt like the earth was shaking for an instant.

Wolverine just stared in astonishment at the destruction that this one adolescent had caused. His thoughts then turned to the possibilities of how strong her claws were and if his own adamantium claws could withstand hers.

Claudia merely stared coldly at Wolverine and he reflected upon how her eyes were so different. These weren't the soft brown eyes that had always looked upon him with silent pain. Looking upon these yellow eyes with black slits, he could see the savage bestiality that lurked in her soul.

Beads of sweat glistened upon her naked body as Wolverine noticed the steady rise and fall of her chest. She was calm. Wolverine couldn't determine if this was a good thing or a bad thing.

"Claudia." he whispered her name. The sound of his voice seemed to agitate her as her breathing became more rapid. She kneeled down and began to growl under her breath. Setting her claws upon the ground and resting her arms upon her knees, she appeared to Wolverine as if she was about to pounce upon him.

"Claudia." He said her name a bit louder this time and tensed in preparation to defend himself. But she didn't attack. She merely stared at him with her cold eyes.

"Listen kid-" The moment those words escaped his lips, a snarl emanated from the depths of her being and she charged him. But instead of dodging the attack, he collided with her, avoiding her claws, and crashed down with her onto the ground. He sat above her, pinning her arms with his. Her body felt like it was on fire and Wolverine could hear her heartbeat through her breast as he pressed his chest up against her own.

"Talk to me kid-" She thrashed violently under his grip, her bosom bouncing in the moonlight. With one violent sway of her hips, she threw him off of her, flipped up and landed in a crouching position with her arms on her knees.

_Why won't she listen to me?_, Wolverine asked himself. And as he stared at the aggressive, naked teenager in front of him, Jubilee's words came back to him: _"Never forget: she's gone through exactly the same thing that you have... Exactly the same. If you forget, then you won't understand. And if you don't comprehend, she will try to kill you..."_

_Exactly the same huh? We'll see_, thought Wolverine.

"Ya think that I don't understand?" he said.

Claudia tilted her head slightly. Almost thoughtfully. She seemed to comprehend.

Wolverine continued. "I had no choice over what was done to me." *SCHLIKT* He popped his claws. "Take a good look." He said those last words slowly.

With his right hand he gashed his left arm, between the elbow and the wrist. As soon as the cut was made, his healing factor started to kick in and the wound was beginning to heal itself.

Referring to his claws, Wolverine said, "There's nothin' mutant about these."

Claudia's eyes widened. She inched slowly towards Wolverine. When she was within a few centimeters away, she reached out with her right hand and tentatively touched one of Wolverine's adamantium claws. Once she came in contact with the cold metal, she quickly withdrew her hand and retreated a few steps. Claudia crouched again.

Wolverine extended a hand towards the adolescent.

"The X-Men can help you." he said softly as he retracted his claws.

Claudia stared at the hand. She seemed to analyze it. Looking for something wrong, something deceiving.

Reaching with her right hand, she placed her palm upon Logan's. As soon her flesh came in contact with his, her claws shortened and became normal nails. Her eyes reverted to their normal soft brown. And her canines shortened to their normal length.

Scooping her up in his arms, Wolverine hurried to bring her back to her mansion. As he was running, he noticed something was wetting his shirt. Looking down in the moonlight, he realized that it was Claudia's tears that were dampening his clothes. She cried silently, tears streaming down her face; not for herself, but for Logan: the man she thought hated her. She cried for him and the fact that another like herself had to undergo the dreadful experience of being helpless, powerless, defenseless and able to do **nothing** about it.

And as she cried Wolverine picked up her scent in the wind. It was completely human.


End file.
